Faro Labs / Markets / Rockford, IL
Rockford real estate investment market
What a typical rental in Rockford, Illinois costs, rents for, and returns: underwritten by Faro's own engine, not a scraped summary.
Returns assume 20% down at 6.75% over 30 years, 7% vacancy, and standard operating costs: Faro's default assumptions, the same ones every report starts from. Home value and rent trends as of 2026-05-31.
Appreciation market
A typical Rockford rental runs $241 short each month at market rent, so the case for buying rests on values rising: they moved 9.7% over the last year. That is a bet on the market rather than on the building, and it needs reserves deep enough to fund the shortfall.
The price a deal actually works at
Faro models five price points for Rockford, from a weak buy to a strong one. The market-rate deal is $184,772; a good buy is $166,295 and a great one $147,818 roughly 20% below market value. Those are the bars a specific listing gets measured against when you run it.
How Rockford compares
Of the 210 markets Faro publishes, Rockford is the 199th most expensive to buy into: 54% below the median covered market, and the 31st strongest on rent-to-price. Within Illinois it's the 4th priciest of 4 markets we cover. On the last year of home-value change it ranks 1st.
To break even at the default financing, a typical Rockford property would need about $1,507 a month in rent: $298 more than the $1,209 the market currently supports.
What each tier costs in Rockford
Faro models five price points per market. A listing gets measured against these bars, not against a national average.
| Tier | Purchase price | Market rent | vs. market rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak buy | $203,249 | $1,149/mo | +10% |
| Fair buy | $194,011 | $1,185/mo | +5% |
| Market rate | $184,772 | $1,209/mo | — |
| Good buy | $166,295 | $1,269/mo | -10% |
| Great buy | $147,818 | $1,330/mo | -20% |
A typical Rockford deal, underwritten
The market-rate property above, run through the same engine every Faro report uses.
| Purchase price | $184,772 |
|---|---|
| Monthly rent | $1,209 |
| Cash required (20% down + 3% closing) | $42,498 |
| Net operating income | $8,610/yr |
| Monthly cash flow | -$241 |
| Cap rate | 4.7% |
| Cash-on-cash return | −6.8% |
| DSCR | 0.75 |
One of the cheapest ways in
At $184,772, a typical Rockford property costs 53.5% less than the median market Faro covers: 199th most expensive of 210. Cash required at 20% down plus closing is about $42,498, which is what makes markets like this the usual starting point for a first rental. The trade is management: a cheap property is not a cheap property to run, and the fixed costs, a roof, a furnace, a turnover, are the same dollars against a much smaller rent.
What it would take to break even
A typical Rockford property would need about $1,507 a month to cover itself at the default financing: 25% above the $1,209 the market currently supports. That gap is the honest size of the problem: it isn't closed by trimming an expense line, it's closed by buying meaningfully below market, putting more down, or finding a property that rents well above its market's median.
Where it sits in Illinois
Faro covers 4 Illinois markets, and Rockford is the 4th priciest of them at $184,772. Within a single state the tax and insurance environment is broadly shared, so the differences between these markets come down to price, rent, and pace, which makes them the most useful comparison set on this page. The nearby markets listed below are the rest of that set.
Rockford investor questions
Is Rockford a good place to buy rental property?
A typical Rockford rental at $184,772 renting for $1,209 a month returns 4.7% on a cap-rate basis and runs short by $241 a month at 20% down. Individual deals vary far more than markets do, which is the whole reason to underwrite a specific address.
Can you cash-flow a rental in Rockford?
Not at the market's own price and rent. A typical property runs $241 short each month. It would need about $1,507 in rent to break even. Deals that work here are bought below market rather than at it, which is what the price ladder above is for.
Are Rockford home prices still rising?
Values rose 9.7% over the last year across 8 covered ZIP codes. Faro underwrites deals on cash flow and treats appreciation as upside rather than a plan, so a rising market improves a deal that already works: it doesn't rescue one that doesn't.
How much do you need to buy a rental in Rockford?
About $42,498 at 20% down plus 3% closing on a typical $184,772 property: one of the lower entry points among the 210 markets covered here.
Other Illinois markets
Run the numbers yourself
A market average is not a deal.
Paste a real Rockford listing and Faro underwrites that specific property from its own comps, with a target price you can actually offer.
Estimates for analysis and educational use only: not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Verify every number independently before making a purchase decision.