Rockford, Illinois demographics

Rockford, IL demographics: median age 37.7; 23.5% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Rockford city, Illinois · Incorporated city · GEOID 1765000. The survey estimates a population of 147,521 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Rockford is 37.7 years, with a 90% margin of error of 0.7 years. There are 61,324 households (±883). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	37.7 ±0.7	39.0 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 147,521
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
Under 18	35,677 ±1,264	24.2% ±0.9 pp	21.8%	22.0%
18–34	33,283 ±1,021	22.6% ±0.7 pp	22.7%	22.8%
35–64	52,361 ±1,381	35.5% ±0.9 pp	38.5%	38.0%
65 and older	26,200 ±1,119	17.8% ±0.8 pp	17.0%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 147,521
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
Male	71,558 ±714	48.5% ±0.5 pp	49.4%	49.5%
Female	75,963 ±704	51.5% ±0.5 pp	50.6%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 147,521
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
White alone	77,558 ±1,748	52.6% ±1.2 pp	61.0%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	29,408 ±1,395	19.9% ±0.9 pp	13.6%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	1,525 ±540	1.0% ±0.4 pp	0.6%	0.9%
Asian alone	5,436 ±514	3.7% ±0.3 pp	6.0%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	96 ±48	0.1% ±0.0 pp	0.0%	0.2%
Some other race alone	13,461 ±1,426	9.1% ±1.0 pp	7.9%	7.1%
Two or more races	20,037 ±1,811	13.6% ±1.2 pp	10.9%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 147,521
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	115,705 ±1,261	78.4% ±0.8 pp	81.2%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	31,816 ±1,175	21.6% ±0.8 pp	18.8%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 61,324
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
Married-couple family	21,131 ±777	34.5% ±1.2 pp	45.3%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	3,413 ±461	5.6% ±0.7 pp	4.9%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	10,631 ±619	17.3% ±1.0 pp	11.9%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	21,571 ±890	35.2% ±1.4 pp	31.2%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	4,578 ±624	7.5% ±1.0 pp	6.7%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 61,324
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
Households with people under 18	16,823 ±749	27.4% ±1.2 pp	28.6%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	44,501 ±1,100	72.6% ±1.5 pp	71.4%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 61,324
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	21,571 ±890	35.2% ±1.4 pp	31.2%	28.7%
Two-person households	19,753 ±1,046	32.2% ±1.6 pp	32.3%	33.8%
Three-person households	8,307 ±708	13.5% ±1.1 pp	14.7%	15.3%
Four-person households	5,866 ±581	9.6% ±0.9 pp	12.6%	12.6%
Five-person households	3,168 ±408	5.2% ±0.7 pp	5.8%	5.9%
Six-person households	1,490 ±287	2.4% ±0.5 pp	2.1%	2.2%
Seven or more people	1,169 ±288	1.9% ±0.5 pp	1.3%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 147,521
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
Native	128,961 ±1,382	87.4% ±0.9 pp	85.3%	85.9%
Foreign born	18,560 ±1,330	12.6% ±0.9 pp	14.7%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 138,342
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
English only	107,735 ±2,003	77.9% ±1.4 pp	76.0%	77.7%
Spanish	21,543 ±1,465	15.6% ±1.1 pp	14.0%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	230 ±108	0.2% ±0.1 pp	0.3%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	196 ±107 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	1,110 ±444	0.8% ±0.3 pp	2.5%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	1,099 ±346	0.8% ±0.3 pp	2.6%	2.0%
Korean	70 ±84 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	466 ±197	0.3% ±0.1 pp	0.9%	1.1%
Vietnamese	248 ±136 · low precision	0.2% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	299 ±141	0.2% ±0.1 pp	0.7%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	1,973 ±427	1.4% ±0.3 pp	1.0%	1.1%
Arabic	1,212 ±839 · low precision	0.9% ±0.6 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	2,161 ±655	1.6% ±0.5 pp	0.6%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 98,585
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	14,921 ±1,100	15.1% ±1.1 pp	9.5%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	29,941 ±1,524	30.4% ±1.5 pp	25.1%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	21,939 ±1,184	22.3% ±1.2 pp	19.2%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	8,654 ±750	8.8% ±0.8 pp	8.3%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	14,295 ±886	14.5% ±0.9 pp	22.6%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	8,835 ±743	9.0% ±0.7 pp	15.3%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 145,684
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Illinois	U.S.
Same house	124,149 ±1,906	85.2% ±1.3 pp	88.9%	87.7%
Moved within same county	14,284 ±1,666	9.8% ±1.1 pp	6.4%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	3,952 ±772	2.7% ±0.5 pp	2.4%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	2,325 ±524	1.6% ±0.4 pp	1.6%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	974 ±430	0.7% ±0.3 pp	0.6%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

7.2% of Rockford residents (±0.6 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 6.9% in Illinois and 8.4% nationally. 86.6% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Rockford	Illinois	U.S.	Compared with Illinois
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	7.2% ±0.6 pp	6.9%	8.4%	Not statistically different
Households with a broadband subscription Households	86.6% ±1.2 pp	90.8%	91.0%	Lower
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	5.6% ±0.6 pp	4.8%	6.2%	Higher

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Rockford . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Rockford housing and cost context or return to the city profile.