Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0Rockton has higher household incomes than 88% of U.S. towns
5.5% of residents are in poverty (Illinois 11.8%). For jobs and income Rockton is better than 88% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (C). Only 6% stay in Rockton for work; outside it, Rockford is the main destination (23%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Rockton
The figures behind Rockton’s Jobs & income grade
Household income is its strongest input ($119,058, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rockton could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The towns that employ Rockton’s residents
Where Rockton clocks in
23% of workers
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Who commutes out of Rockton, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,509 residents head out to work, 225 work right here, and 2,166 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,500 people are in Rockton on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.64 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Goods, not services: 34% of the jobs in Rockton
2,391 jobs are based in Rockton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rockton, 2013 → 2023: 2,321 → 2,391. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rockton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 25 minutes in Rockton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rockton workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,738 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The distance from Rockton to work
About 24% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Rockton gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,165 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.6% of Rockton households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rockton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Rockton is 501st among 3,026 U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 499 | Cedar Hills OR | 8,388 | $106K | 2.3% | 5.0% | 2% | A |
| 500 | Blendon Township OH | 9,857 | $102K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 2% | A |
| 501 | Rockton IL | 7,870 | $119K | 5.5% | 3.1% | 6% | A |
| 502 | Manorhaven NY | 7,135 | $105K | 6.4% | 3.9% | 4% | A |
| 503 | Olmsted Falls OH | 8,669 | $97K | 6.0% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,026 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Rockton, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns around Rockton
The biggest share goes to Roscoe (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rockton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockton | – | A | C | 25 min | $119,058 |
| Roscoe | 4% | A− | C | 27 min | $93,036 |
| South Beloit | 3% | B | B− | 25 min | $78,616 |
| Rockton Township | under 3% | B | C+ | 25 min | $77,092 |
| Roscoe Township | under 3% | A− | C+ | 27 min | $108,711 |
| Owen Township | under 3% | A | D− | 27 min | $95,370 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rockton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Rockton: questions
What is the median household income in Rockton?
$119,058 (±$17,957) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rockton?
5.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rockton?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rockton work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockford (23%, 13 mi), Beloit (9%, 6 mi), Loves Park (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rockton walkable?
Rockton is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rockton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rockton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rockton
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.