Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,093, settled in 1819. 67% more nonprofits per person than the typical Illinois town.
Rochester grades A− overall, 196th of 767 graded towns in Illinois, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $117K and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 89% of the country. It also does better than most on safety: it reports less crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $299K, 3.9 years of the Springfield metro’s $76K median household income. Only 68 of Illinois’ 1,240 towns score higher on civic life. 48% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Rochester, where Illinois’ towns sit at 29% and U.S. towns at 29%. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 83% of U.S. towns.
Where Rochester beats most towns.
Where Rochester’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Rochester is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Its founding year, 1819, comes before those of 95% of the Illinois towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 307 in 1880, 3,863 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2014 and a map from 1985 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rochester. Close and well known come first.
Big draw9 mi LandmarkLincoln Tomb
8 mi National Historic SiteLincoln Home National Historic Site124K visitors a year8 mi National MonumentSpringfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument
8 mi MuseumOld State Capitol State Historic Site
23 mi MuseumLincoln's New Salem
4 mi Zoo & aquariumHenson Robinson ZooLincoln Tomb: David Jones, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Lincoln Home National Historic Site: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Old State Capitol State Historic Site: Shadow2700 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Lincoln's New Salem: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Henson Robinson Zoo: Robert Lawton, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rochester, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Rochester.
Rochester has less food insecurity than most of Illinois and sees little violent crime.
Its widest gap with Illinois is food insecurity: 7.5% of its 2,852 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.9% statewide.
17% of Rochester adults get no exercise outside work. Rochester beats the Illinois average on 14 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 13% of Rochester adults say their health is fair or poor.
| Rochester | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 23% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 19% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Rochester | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.5% | 15.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.9% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.7% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Violent crime is rare: 4 reported in 2025, 1 per 1,000 residents.
Rochester’s property crime rate is 3.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Rochester | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Rochester for work: only 3% work in town. 2.5% of residents live below the poverty line in Rochester. Since 2013, Rochester has added 86 jobs, to 788 in 2023.
| Rochester | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 19% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $117,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.5% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Rochester has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 19° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (23% statewide). Rochester has grown 5.9% since 2020, to 4,093 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 48% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Rochester | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 25% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 39.8 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1 point. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Rochester | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.5% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.7% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.3% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.6% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.2% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.4% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.2% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.1% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.3% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 31.2% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.7% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,100, single groups can be off by several points
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rochester.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.0 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Rochester Community Park, at 63 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rochester Community Park | — | 63 |
| 2. Wanless Park | — | 16 |
| 3. North Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Typical home values rose 6.8% in the year to September 2026.
| Rochester | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,288 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Rochester
About 3 of every 100 Rochester residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
Rochester is a village and suburb of Springfield in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Rochester had a population of 3,863. The village was settled in 1819, and is located in Rochester Township. Rochester is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Rochester grades A− overall, better than 83% of U.S. towns and #196 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A for health, A for safety and B for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
