City · Stephenson County, Illinois

Freeport, Illinois

Freeport is a city in Stephenson County, Illinois, part of the Freeport, IL metro area. It has 23,505 residents. Freeport, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 35 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,105 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #489 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on home price to income ratio (low), average commute time (low) and grocery stores (high). It ranks worst on effective property tax rate (high), job growth (low) and adult obesity (high).

35Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,105 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #489 of 697 in IL
Population: 23,505 (2020-2024)
Land area: 12 mi²
Density: 1,978.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 1727884

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety62#5,938/15,637
Economy10#14,020/15,631
Housing67#5,016/14,977
Health30#10,983/15,609
Healthcare32#10,701/15,650
Environment49#7,906/15,453
Education26#11,516/15,649
Infrastructure27#11,352/15,650
Community51#7,732/15,651
Leisure & amenities75#3,965/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Freeport, Illinois ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Stephenson County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Home price to income ratio · low1.8×
96/100Illinois 3.2×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Average commute time · low15.9 min
96/100Illinois 27.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Grocery stores · high2.5 /10k
90/100Illinois 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsStephenson County value
Drug overdose deaths · low8.8 /100k
86/100Illinois 14.2 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataStephenson County value
Social associations · high13.7 /10k
85/100Illinois 9.8 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteStephenson County value
Restaurants and bars · high11.3 /10k
84/100Illinois 10.3 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsStephenson County value

Weaknesses

Effective property tax rate · high2.45%
2/100Illinois 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Job growth · low-4.4%
3/100Illinois 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataStephenson County value
Adult obesity · high43.6%
8/100Illinois 39.0%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Broadband subscriptions · low84.9%
11/100Illinois 90.8%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
New homes permitted · low0.0 /1k
13/100Illinois 1.5 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Child poverty rate · high27.9%
16/100Illinois 14.1%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedWorsening
0.2 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.3% (2015-2019) → 84.9% (2020-2024)
+9.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Unemployment rateImproving
10.5% (2015-2019) → 4.5% (2020-2024)
−6 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$39,975 (2015-2019) → $51,723 (2020-2024)
+29%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
49.1% (2015-2019) → 44.8% (2020-2024)
−4.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Average commute timeImproving
19.7 min (2015-2019) → 15.9 min (2020-2024)
−19%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Freeport, Illinois improved on 4 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved4

Unemployment−6 points10.5% → 4.5%
Commute−3.7 min19.7 min → 15.9 min
Broadband+9.7 points75.3% → 84.9%
Household income+29%$39,975 → $51,723

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Freeport, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.7 min2015-2019	15.9 min2020-2024	−3.7 min	Improved	84%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.5%2015-2019	19.0%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	31%
Broadband subscriptions	75.3%2015-2019	84.9%2020-2024	+9.7 points	Improved	58%
Child poverty rate	25.8%2015-2019	27.9%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Effective property tax rate	2.47%2015-2019	2.45%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	19%
High school diploma or higher	90.6%2015-2019	91.7%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	1.8×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	80%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4552015-2019	0.4452020-2024	−0.010	Within the margin of error	60%
Median household income	$39,9752015-2019	$51,7232020-2024	+29%	Improved	54%
Poverty rate	17.8%2015-2019	19.6%2020-2024	+1.8 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Rent as share of income	29.6%2015-2019	27.8%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Rent-burdened households	49.1%2015-2019	44.8%2020-2024	−4.3 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Unemployment rate	10.5%2015-2019	4.5%2020-2024	−6 points	Improved	97%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.3%2015-2019	7.7%2020-2024	−0.6 points	Within the margin of error	54%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Freeport, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Freeport, Illinois in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Freeport, Illinois itself moved +3.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

23,505 residents (±40)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

10,841 households (±270)

Freeport, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k23%2,540
$25k–50k25%2,713
$50k–75k19%2,073

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

10,841 households (±270)

Freeport, Illinois
Illinois share

Own59%6,402
Rent41%4,439

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

10,466 workers (±459)

Freeport, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone74%7,782
Carpool10%1,047
Public transit1.0%†102

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Freeport, IL

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Stephenson County, the county holding most of Freeport's residents.

Stephenson County has 1,003 employer establishments, 230 for every 10,000 residents (0.93× the US rate of 248; 0.90× Illinois's), with 15,626 paid employees at an average annual pay of $57,586. The Census Bureau also counts 2,740 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,003; 2,740 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 230; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 15,626
Average annual pay: $57,586; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Stephenson County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	68	15.6	1.01×About typical	2,318	$102,616	197
Ambulatory health care services	62	14.2	0.68×Fewer than typical	601	$82,205	74
Restaurants and other eating places	57	13.1	0.71×Fewer than typical	917	$16,459	11
Truck transportation	48	11	2.18×More than typical	155	$50,219	95
Religious organizations	45	10.3	1.86×More than typical	318	$22,412	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	36	8.3	1.64×More than typical	206	$43,777	48
Services to buildings and dwellings	35	8	1.19×About typical	147	$30,299	157
Construction of buildings	32	7.4	0.97×About typical	159	$46,893	75
Full-service restaurants	31	7.1	0.93×About typical	341	$17,548	5
Insurance agencies and brokerages	31	7.1	1.62×More than typical	93	$50,699	45
Lessors of real estate	30	6.9	0.56×Fewer than typical	64	$37,203	207
Building equipment contractors	29	6.7	1.11×About typical	1,815	$105,761	26

Rank places for an industry Open Stephenson County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 43,517 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $18.8K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Freeport, Illinois: $0.80 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $18.8K; +84% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.80; US $1,994
Sole-source: 34%; US 30%
Single offer: 3.4%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Defense Logistics Agency$14.3K76%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$3,88421%
Department of the Army$6423.4%

Top recipients

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.$14.3K76%
HIGHLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION$3,88421%
HAMHED LLC$6423.4%

Spending by fiscal year

142.9KFY2017
121.3KFY2018
74KFY2019
43.1KFY2020
38.1KFY2021
43.7KFY2022
44.9KFY2023
91.6KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$7,87342%
Hardware manufacturing · 3325$6,38134%
Junior colleges · 6112$3,88421%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$6423.4%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Freeport, Illinois, so they do not add up across cities.

Freeport, Illinois's figures are part of those of Stephenson County, IL ($782.6K in FY2026), never added to them: 2.4% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Freeport is mostly in Stephenson County.

See federal money in Stephenson County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Freeport, Illinois is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Stephenson County63100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Freeport, IL58

Other cities and towns in Stephenson County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1727884

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends