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Beloit, Wisconsin

Beloit is a small city of about 37,000 people in Rock County, Wisconsin. 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, Milwaukee, is about 65 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
36,649
down 0.3% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$156,500
Rock County prices up 25% since 2022
Household income
$62,663
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Janesville area
93.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Beloit Health System
To Milwaukee
65 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 6.3% below the U.S. average in the Janesville-Beloit metro area.
  • 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 neighborhood157 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 4.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 19 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town15 public schools: 8 elementary, 3 middle, 2 high schools and 2 other.
  • A hospital close byBeloit Health System is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMilwaukee is about 65 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 Beloit 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
$156,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 25%Rock County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,066 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$62,663U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
59%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,454 a yearWisconsin: $3,792
Homes built before 1940
27%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
93.7U.S. average = 100 (the Janesville-Beloit metro area)

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 25% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Janesville-Beloit metro area, not Beloit 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
36,6492020: 36,740
Median age
33.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
14%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
25%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
18%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%U.S.: 6%
College students
8%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
Manufacturing (22%); schools, health care and social services (20%); retail (15%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
23 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
7%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
15%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Beloit Health System, Beloit, WI, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 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

15 public schools in Beloit, run by Beloit School District and Beloit Turner School District.

Colleges in or next to town: Beloit College (1,000 to 4,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Wisconsin'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
74%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
88%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
11°F
July average high
80°F
Days 90°F or hotter
10 a year
Nights at or below freezing
142 a year
Rain and melted snow
37.4 inches a year
Snow
36 inches a year
Elevation
799 feet

Weather station: Beloit (2 miles away). 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: Janesville, Milwaukee.

Rock County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

31 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Bluff Street Historic District, the City of Beloit Waterworks and Pump Station, the Merrill Avenue Historic District and the Near East Side Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Ice Age National Scenic Trail49 miles
  • Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site53 miles

Campus life. Check Beloit College's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Beloit's history on Wikipedia.

Know Beloit?

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

  • Shopiere, WI (unincorporated)123 people, 5 miles
  • Hanover, WI (unincorporated)130 people, 11 miles
  • Argyle, IL (unincorporated)324 people, 12 miles
  • Caledonia, IL183 people, 12 miles
  • Allens Grove, WI (unincorporated)147 people, 13 miles
  • Footville, WI898 people, 14 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.