Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Beloit grades D overall, ranked 352nd of 357 in Wisconsin, mostly because of schools and safety. Its schools rank behind 97% of the state's. Its crime rate is higher than 83% of U.S. towns, with 157 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 95% of U.S. towns, with 29 places on the National Register. 28% of working residents work locally in Beloit, above both Wisconsin’s towns (8.2%) and U.S. towns (8%). On health, just 27 of Wisconsin’s 874 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Pearsons Hall of Science and Fairbanks Flats.
Where Beloit beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Rasey House| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Robinson Elementary | PK–5 | 477 |
| Todd Elementary | PK–5 | 471 |
| Converse Elementary | PK–5 | 446 |
Its 29 National Register listings are more than in 96% of Wisconsin towns with a listing.
Census counts: 4,098 in 1860, 36,657 in 2020. The archive holds 21 old photos and papers going back to 1846 and 2 maps from 1971 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Beloit is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Beloit, 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 Beloit.
Beloit has homes that are cheap against local pay, trades workers with Janesville and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Wisconsin’s.
Its public schools are run by the Beloit School District. Two of its 16 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Public school enrollment in the town: 2,400 students across 6 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aldrich IntermediateLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 521 | D |
| Memorial HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,305 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
At 38.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 95% of Wisconsin’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 984 to 852 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Beloit’s property offense rate stands at 19 per 1,000 residents.
| Beloit | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 19 per 1,000 residents | 6.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Among 357 Wisconsin towns, just 8 have a lower share of adults who binge drink than Beloit. The share of adults in Beloit who smoke cigarettes: 17%. This Wisconsin town does better than the Wisconsin average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 20.
| Beloit | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 26% | 25% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 38% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 32% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 10% | 14% |
| What stands out | Beloit | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.9% | 8.6% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 20.5% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.7 years of the Janesville metro’s $76K median household income, the typical home (about $208K) costs less against local pay than in 98% of Wisconsin towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living. Home values rose 49% in five years, to about $208K, against 31% across Wisconsin.
For households in Beloit, the share who own their home is 59%. Homes sold in Beloit spent a median 41 days on the market. Bidding over the asking price: 46% of homes sold in the town.
| Beloit | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 74% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 48% | 39% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Count the trails in 16 parks and preserves and they come to 7.2 miles. Turtle Creek Parkway, at 329 acres with 1.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Parks and preserves in Beloit: 16, covering 470 acres.
| Beloit | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.1% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Turtle Creek Parkway | 1.8 mi | 329 |
| 2. Riverside Park | 1.2 mi | 33 |
| 3. Harper's Prairie Park | 0.6 mi | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 12.9°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 95% of Wisconsin places with climate records; July afternoons average 83.3°.
The peak summer temperature for Beloit comes to 83°F. About 37 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Beloit | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 13°F | 11°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Beloit has about as many jobs (16,684) as working residents, but only 4,440 people both live and work here.
Roughly one working resident in four has a job in Beloit itself. In Beloit, 15% of residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Beloit has added 2,176 jobs, to 16,684 in 2023. Also worth knowing: its median household income is $63,000.
| Beloit | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 6.3% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 6.9% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $88,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in just over half of U.S. communities. Since 1979, Beloit has seen 21 flood insurance claims paid out. 47% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 21%. Federal aid has come to Beloit households in 6 declared disasters; the latest was in 2026.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Beloit. Close and well known come first.
32 mi MuseumIllinois Railway Museum
33 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre
18 mi Stadium & arenaBMO Center
38 mi State parkAztalan State Park
16 mi GardenAnderson Japanese Gardens
36 mi MuseumOld World WisconsinIllinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0 · BMO Center: SimLibrarian, CC0 · Aztalan State Park: Joshua Mayer - Flickr user wackybadger, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anderson Japanese Gardens: M. Readey, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Old World Wisconsin: Bridget Bannon, CC BY-SA 3.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Beloit
About 8 of every 100 Beloit residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
29 places in Beloit on the National Register of Historic Places.
39 notable people were born in Beloit.
City in Wisconsin, United States
Beloit ( bə-LOYT) is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located along the Rock River in southern Wisconsin, on the state border with Illinois. The population was 36,657 at the 2020 census. The Janesville–Beloit metropolitan statistical area, consisting solely of Rock County, has an estimated 165,000 residents.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Beloit.
Turtle has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Turtle reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Beloit with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Beloit grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #352 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades C− for health, C− for safety and D− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.7 years of the area's median household income ($75,673 across the Janesville-Beloit, 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.
39 notable people were born here, including Danica Patrick and Roy Chapman Andrews.
