Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Rockford earns an A, 46th among Minnesota's 271 graded towns. The median household earns $94K and residents are healthier than 87% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The exception is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 79% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Ames-Florida House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Rockford’s January low is 5°F, against 6°F in Minnesota’s towns and 22°F across U.S. towns.
Where Rockford beats most towns.
Where Rockford’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Rockford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 159 in 1880, 4,500 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1856 and 4 maps from 1909 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rockford, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Rockford.
Rockford has added half again as many jobs in ten years, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Minnesota (mostly inland flooding).
21% of adults binge drink in Rockford. Rockford beats the Minnesota average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 10% of adults report frequent physical distress in Rockford.
| Rockford | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.4% | 10% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | Rockford | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.1% | 8.9% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.4% | 5.9% |
| More binge drinkers | 20.6% | 17.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Rockford Public School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Rockford Secondary, with 479 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockford MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 487 | B |
| Rockford SecondaryLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 479 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of Minnesota towns; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here grew from 760 in 2013 to 1,190.
Most working residents leave Rockford for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Rockford grew to 1,190 in 2023, 430 more than in 2013. The average trip to work in Rockford is 27 minutes.
| Rockford | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.8% | 7.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.7% | 9.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Rockford | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Riverside Park | 0.7 mi | 17 |
| 2. RHS Athletic Fields | 0.1 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Rockford has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Rockford’s July high is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Minnesota average. Rockford has grown 7.7% since 2020, to 4,827 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 14% of Rockford residents are 65 or older.
| Rockford | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 33% | 29% |
| Median age | 38.4 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.3 points). Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Rockford | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.4% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.9% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.1% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.9% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.6% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.9% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.1% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.7% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.3% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.5% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.4% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.7% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.2% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.2% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,800, single groups can be off by several points
The typical Rockford home is worth about $356,000, about the same as a year ago, close to the Minnesota typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rockford. Close and well known come first.
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
24 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
27 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
14 mi LakeLake Minnetonka
33 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino Arena
25 mi Theme parkValleyfairU.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Minnetonka: Dan, CC BY 2.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Valleyfair: https://www.flickr.com/photos/clumpinglitter/, CC BY-SA 2.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Rockford
About 4 of every 100 Rockford residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
City in Minnesota, United States
Rockford is a city in Wright and Hennepin Counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 4,500 at the 2020 census. Rockford is mainly in Wright County, with a small part of the city extending into Hennepin County. It is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan statistical area. Minnesota State Highway 55 serves as a main route in the city.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Rockford.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockford | #46 | A | B+ | — | B+ | A |
| Rockford Township | #107 | A− | B− | — | A− | A− |
| Greenfield | #142 | A− | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Franklin Township | #130 | A− | D | — | A+ | A |
Rockford, Rockford Township, Greenfield and Franklin Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rockford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Rockford grades A overall, better than 94% of U.S. towns and #46 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades A for health and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the area. That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($99,833 across the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
.jpg){kind=link}