Village · Winnebago County, Illinois

Pecatonica, Illinois

Pecatonica is a village in Winnebago County, Illinois, part of the Rockford, IL metro area. It has 2,024 residents. Pecatonica, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 35 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,148 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #493 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), home price to income ratio (low) and unemployment rate (low). It ranks worst on reading scores (low), effective property tax rate (high) and math scores (low).

35Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,148 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #493 of 697 in IL
Population: 2,024 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,577.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 1758408

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety17#13,023/15,637
Economy63#5,833/15,631
Housing84#2,399/14,977
Health46#8,424/15,609
Healthcare45#8,609/15,650
Environment31#10,650/15,453
Education11#13,856/15,649
Infrastructure19#12,626/15,650
Community38#9,722/15,651
Leisure & amenities72#4,430/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Pecatonica, Illinois ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Winnebago 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

Rent-burdened households · low9.0%
99/100Illinois 47.9%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070High uncertainty
Home price to income ratio · low2.0×
93/100Illinois 3.2×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Unemployment rate · low1.6%
87/100Illinois 4.6%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Distance to an emergency room · low3.5 mi
86/100Illinois 4.0 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesWinnebago County value
Lack of reliable transportation · low6.0%
84/100Illinois 8.4%United States 8.3%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Physical inactivity · low18.6%
82/100Illinois 23.6%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Weaknesses

Reading scores · low2.54
3/100Illinois 2.97United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWinnebago County value
Effective property tax rate · high2.26%
4/100Illinois 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Math scores · low2.51
4/100Illinois 2.90United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWinnebago County value
Primary care shortage · high18.0
5/100Illinois 6.6United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationWinnebago County value
Violent crime rate · high561 /100k
6/100Illinois 251 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationWinnebago County value
Time spent in the emergency room · high232 min
7/100Illinois 170 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesWinnebago County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,243 (2015-2019) → 2,024 (2020-2024)
−9.8%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
25.5% (2015-2019) → 9.0% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.1% (2015-2019) → 88.3% (2020-2024)
+9.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
16.1% (2015-2019) → 23.3% (2020-2024)
+7.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Child poverty rateWorsening
1.3% (2015-2019) → 8.0% (2020-2024)
+6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$56,500 (2015-2019) → $73,162 (2020-2024)
+29%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Pecatonica, Illinois improved on 2 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 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.

Improved2

Bachelor's++7.2 points16.1% → 23.3%
Broadband+9.2 points79.1% → 88.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Pecatonica, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	28.5 min2015-2019	30.1 min2020-2024	+1.6 min	Within the margin of error	30%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.1%2015-2019	23.3%2020-2024	+7.2 points	Improved	80%
Broadband subscriptions	79.1%2015-2019	88.3%2020-2024	+9.2 points	Improved	56%
Effective property tax rate	2.64%2015-2019	2.25%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	83%
High school diploma or higher	95.5%2015-2019	91.8%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	2.0×2020-2024	−0.1×	Within the margin of error	82%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3392015-2019	0.3892020-2024	+0.050	Within the margin of error	16%
Median household income	$56,5002015-2019	$73,1622020-2024	+29%	Within the margin of error	54%
Poverty rate	4.4%2015-2019	7.0%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	20.6%2015-2019	21.9%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	45%

“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 Pecatonica, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Pecatonica, 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, Pecatonica, Illinois itself moved −5.6 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

2,024 residents (±371)

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

939 households (±181)

Pecatonica, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k10%†94
$25k–50k19%†175
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

939 households (±181)

Pecatonica, Illinois
Illinois share

Own80%755
Rent20%†184

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,063 workers (±235)

Pecatonica, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone78%832
Carpool9.6%†102
Public transit0.0%0

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 Rockford, 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 Winnebago County, the county holding most of Pecatonica's residents.

Winnebago County has 6,286 employer establishments, 223 for every 10,000 residents (0.90× the US rate of 248; 0.87× Illinois's), with 117,137 paid employees at an average annual pay of $55,302. The Census Bureau also counts 20,028 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 6,286; 20,028 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 223; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 117,137
Average annual pay: $55,302; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	505	17.9	0.98×About typical	10,076	$20,141	109
Ambulatory health care services	467	16.6	0.80×Fewer than typical	6,780	$82,077	781
Specialty trade contractors	383	13.6	0.88×About typical	2,877	$85,377	1,122
Limited-service restaurants	245	8.7	1.08×About typical	5,414	$18,265	60
Full-service restaurants	218	7.7	1.01×About typical	4,148	$22,609	29
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	213	7.6	4.73×More than typical	7,076	$57,316	48
Lessors of real estate	209	7.4	0.60×Fewer than typical	744	$50,156	1,421
Truck transportation	197	7	1.38×More than typical	1,687	$58,664	631
Automotive repair and maintenance	185	6.6	1.30×More than typical	954	$46,829	250
Services to buildings and dwellings	172	6.1	0.91×About typical	1,108	$42,861	1,284
Religious organizations	149	5.3	0.95×About typical	3,141	$26,764	—
Offices of other health practitioners	145	5.1	0.85×About typical	790	$49,981	305

Rank places for an industry Open Winnebago County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 281,732 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Winnebago 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.

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

House

Senate

County

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

Winnebago County34100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Rockford, IL39

Other cities and towns in Winnebago 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/1758408

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends