Is Rock a good place to live?
Rock is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 332nd of 357 graded towns in Wisconsin, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $71K. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $346K, 4.6 years of the Janesville metro’s $76K median household income. 22% of residents live below the poverty line in Rock, above both Wisconsin’s towns (6.3%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 33 of Wisconsin’s 869 towns score lower on civic life. Rock is home to Blackhawk Technical College.
What makes Rock stand out
Where Rock beats most towns.
Blackhawk Technical College calls Rock home
How Rock grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Wisconsin), ordered by how far Rock is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Rock: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rock, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Rock.
Rock has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of Wisconsin; it also has poverty well above the Wisconsin rate and trails Plymouth and its other neighbors on schools.
About two in five of Rock’s working residents commute to Janesville
Most working residents leave Rock for work: only 1% work in town. Since 2013, Rock has added 88 jobs, to 926 in 2023. The top destinations are Janesville (42%), Madison (9%) and Beloit (7%).
| Rock | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.1% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $88,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
On state tests, Rock’s schools trail 59% of Wisconsin districts
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C+, Plymouth highest at B.
Its public schools are run by the Janesville School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock University HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 93 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WI on state tests and graduation
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Rock
January nights average 12.8°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 94% of Wisconsin places with climate records; July afternoons average 83.4°.
Rock has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Among 362 Wisconsin towns, just 1 have a higher July high than Rock. The January low in Rock is 13°F.
| Rock | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 13°F | 11°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 82°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Low risk in Rock, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 25 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rock.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
37% of adults in Rock sleep under 7 hours, against 32% in Wisconsin’s towns and 36% across U.S. towns
30% of adults get no exercise outside work in Rock. Among 357 Wisconsin towns, just 9 have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Rock. 17% of adults binge drink in Rock.
| Rock | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 32% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 20% | 16% |
| What stands out | Rock | WI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults seeing a dentist | 63.4% | 67.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Conserved land covers 6.1% of Rock
2.0 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Happy Hollow Park, at 176 acres. Rock’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Rock | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.1% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Happy Hollow Park | — | 176 |
| 2. Rockport Park | 0.1 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Rock earns a C+ for cost of living
Typical home values rose 7.9% in the year to September 2026.
| Rock | Wisconsin towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $944 a month | $1,080 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 74% | 73% |
Typical home value
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Rock
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Rock
About 1 of every 100 Rock residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Wisconsin.
99% of working residents leave Rock for work
Where Rock’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Rock
Town in Wisconsin, United States
The Town of Rock is a located in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,981 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Afton is in the town.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 30 sq mi
- Elevation
- 748 ft
- Area code
- 608
Rock’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Rock.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C; Janesville (C+) is closest.
| Town | WI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock | #332 | C | C+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| Janesville | #307 | C+ | C+ | C+ | C+ | C+ |
| Beloit | #252 | B− | B | B | B | C− |
| Plymouth | — | — | C | — | B | C+ |
| Janesville | #291 | C+ | C− | — | B− | C+ |
| La Prairie | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Plymouth has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Rock, Plymouth and Janesville report no FBI crime data of their own. La Prairie isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Rock with a neighbor →
Questions about Rock
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rock, WI a good place to live?
Rock grades C overall, better than 25% of U.S. towns and #332 of 357 in Wisconsin. It grades C+ for health and C+ for schools.