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Towns / Illinois

Rochelle, Illinois

Rochelle is a small town of about 9,500 people in Ogle County, Illinois. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.5 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Chicago, is about 71 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
9,498
up 0.3% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$164,300
Ogle County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$66,307
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Illinois
87.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Rochelle Community Hospital
To Chicago
71 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 12.6% below the U.S. average in the parts of Illinois outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood22 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 6.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byRochelle Community Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityChicago is about 71 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Rochelle meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$164,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Ogle County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$985 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$66,307U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
53%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,589 a yearIllinois: $5,298
Homes built before 1940
13%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
87.4U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Illinois outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 24% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Illinois outside metro areas, not Rochelle alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
9,4982020: 9,473
Median age
36 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
21%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
19%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%
College students
9%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (23%); manufacturing (19%); retail (16%)
Unemployment rate
8%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
22 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
6%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
8%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Rochelle Community Hospital, Rochelle, IL, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, Dekalb, IL, about 16 miles away. Medicare gives it 5 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

5 public schools in Rochelle, run by Rochelle CCSD 231 and Rochelle Twp HSD 212.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Illinois's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
89%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
12°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
10 a year
Nights at or below freezing
145 a year
Rain and melted snow
35.1 inches a year
Snow
28 inches a year
Elevation
787 feet

Weather stations: Rochelle (1 mile away) and Steward 3S (8 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Rockford, Chicago.

Ogle County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Rochelle Downtown Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site22 miles

Read about Rochelle's history on Wikipedia.

Know Rochelle?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Creston, IL637 people, 5 miles
  • Steward, IL222 people, 5 miles
  • Kings, IL (unincorporated)332 people, 6 miles
  • Ashton, IL929 people, 9 miles
  • Holcomb, IL (unincorporated)152 people, 10 miles
  • Lee, IL300 people, 11 miles
  • Monroe Center, IL406 people, 13 miles
  • Franklin Grove, IL868 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.