WalletHub: Rockford Near Bottom In Economic Growth

To determine where the fastest local economic growth has occurred in the U.S., WalletHub compared 515 cities of varying population sizes based on 17 key measures.

We like to lean on the expert numbers-crunchers at personal finance site WalletHub for all kinds of things, even when those numbers aren't relaying the best of news.

As far as rapid economic growth goes, WalletHub reports that The South and West currently seem to be attractive places to move, as the U.S. Census Bureau reports eight of the 15 cities with the largest population gains in 2018 were located in the South and six were in the West.

Here's what WalletHub used for their criteria:

Our data set ranges from population growth to unemployment rate decrease to growth in regional GDP per capita.

Before we get to Rockford's numbers, here are the top ten fastest growing cities in America:

1. Lehigh Acres, FL
2. Mount Pleasant, SC
3. Bend, OR
4. Enterprise, NV
5. Frisco, TX
6. Fort Myers, FL
7. Meridian, ID
8. Saint George, UT
9. Cape Coral, FL
10. Round Rock, TX

As for Rockford, we're ranked at #498 out of 515 cities.

Rockford's numbers:

Economic Growth in Rockford (1=Fastest-Growing; 258=Avg.)

• 489^th – Population Growth
• 396^th – Median Household Income Growth
• 453^rd – Job Growth
• 444^th – Poverty Rate Decrease
• 404^th – Regional GDP Growth
• 144^th – Unemployment Rate Decrease
• 507^th – Growth in Number of Businesses
• 489^th – Working-Age Population Growth
• 81^st – Foreclosure Rate Decrease
• 510^th – Median House Price Growth

Rockford ranks 498^th overall and 246^th in terms of midsize-city growth.