Rockford, Illinois Short-Term Rental Market
The Rockford, IL area STR market earned $189 ADR at 61% occupancy in June 2026.
Quick Answer: Rockford, Illinois is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Illinois Area market area is 61%. average monthly revenue in the Illinois Area market area is $3,147. average daily rate in the Illinois Area market area is $189. the top operator in the Illinois Area market area is Evolve with 100 listings. market score is 97/100 (grade A).
Market data reflects the Illinois Area regional market, which includes Rockford. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Rockford.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Rockford is Illinois’ third-largest city, population 147,486, and the seat of Winnebago County, sitting along the Rock River in north-central Illinois roughly 90 miles northwest of Chicago. Winnebago County has become a growing Midwest sports-tourism destination: visitor spending hit a record $523.4 million in 2024, up from $515.4 million in 2023 and $483 million pre-pandemic in 2019, supporting an estimated 4,650 to 4,690 tourism jobs and about $166 million in payroll. Growth has been driven by sports events and new attractions, including the Hard Rock Casino Rockford, which opened August 29, 2024, and multi-year commitments to host Ironman 70.3, an AHL All-Star Classic, and the Women’s Baseball World Cup. A precise annual visitor head count was not published in available tourism reports; the region tracks spending and jobs rather than visitor totals.
Short-term rental performance data in this data set is tracked at a shared level with several other north-central Illinois markets rather than uniquely for Rockford, so the figures below describe the wider Rockford area STR market. In June 2026, the most recent month with complete data, the area’s average daily rate across all listings was $189.28 at 61.19% occupancy, generating average monthly revenue of $3,147.16 per listing. Occupancy is down slightly year over year (down 0.92%) and ADR is down slightly as well (down 0.62%), while average monthly revenue is up 3.51% year over year.
Bedroom mix, listing-type mix, channel mix, and market-score data in this data set are tracked at a shared regional level with at least one other Illinois market (Ottawa) rather than measured uniquely for Rockford, so this profile omits those figures rather than present regional numbers as if they were city-specific. Booking data for the area shows an average lead time of 56.47 days and an average length of stay of 4.02 nights.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41% | $129 | $1,594 |
| Feb | 48% | $130 | $1,585 |
| Mar | 53% | $134 | $1,922 |
| Apr | 52% | $133 | $1,870 |
| May | 54% | $148 | $2,126 |
| Jun | 60% | $169 | $2,727 |
| Jul | 63% | $172 | $3,016 |
| Aug | 59% | $164 | $2,709 |
| Sep | 53% | $153 | $2,251 |
| Oct | 54% | $156 | $2,396 |
| Nov | 50% | $144 | $2,011 |
| Dec | 46% | $148 | $1,988 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Illinois Area market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Illinois Area market as a whole, which includes Rockford, so these counts are not Rockford-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evolve | 100 | 4,033 | ★ 4.69 |
| 2 | Harbor Inn | 83 | 979 | ★ 4.74 |
| 3 | MySuiteSpot | 67 | 4,900 | ★ 4.77 |
| 4 | Rosebud Rentals | 58 | 3,513 | ★ 4.78 |
| 5 | Southern Illinois Vacation Rentals | 55 | 5,325 | ★ 4.94 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Rockford?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 2,665 |
| 2 bed | 2,478 |
| 3 bed | 1,720 |
| 4 bed | 690 |
| 5 bed | 442 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $199 |
| Luxury | $379 |
| Professionally Managed | $246 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $2,184 |
| Entire Place | $3,314 |
| House | $3,524 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 57.1% |
| vrbo | 5.9% |
| both | 37% |
Investment Analysis
At the area’s June 2026 average daily rate of $189.28 and 61.19% occupancy, the Rockford area STR market generated $3,147.16 in average monthly revenue per listing. June is historically the area’s second-strongest month, behind July, in the 12-month seasonal pattern, so simply multiplying June’s revenue by 12 would overstate a typical year. Summing the area’s 12 historical monthly seasonal averages instead gives a more representative annual figure of approximately $26,195 per listing. Against Rockford’s own typical home value of $187,244.74 (per Zillow data as of June 30, 2026, a genuinely city-specific figure), that annualized revenue implies a gross rental yield of approximately 14.0% before accounting for mortgage, taxes, insurance, cleaning, and management costs. Naively annualizing the June figure alone would suggest a much higher, and misleading, 20.2% yield.
Rockford permits short-term rentals but requires registration through the city’s Rental / Short-Term Rental Registry, which tiers properties into three types: Type 1 owner-occupied primary residences, Type 2 non-owner-occupied properties in single-family-zoned areas with no stated night cap, and Type 3 non-owner-occupied properties capped at roughly 90 rental nights per year. Registration requires a property inspection and can take several weeks; the exact current registration fee varies across sources and should be confirmed directly with the city. Investors should also budget for Rockford’s 5% local Hotel/Motel Tourism Tax, collected by Airbnb but not by Vrbo, plus Illinois’ statewide 6% Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax on short-term rentals, in effect since July 1, 2025.
ADR tiers show real separation: entire-home listings average $198.91 per night, professionally managed listings average $246.21, about 30% above the all-listings average, and luxury-tier listings command $379.20, roughly double the all-listings average.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
Guests in the Rockford area book an average of 56.47 days ahead of their stay, and the average length of stay is 4.02 nights, longer than in many smaller leisure markets in this project. This points to planned trips rather than last-minute or single-night bookings, consistent with a destination built around multi-day sports tournaments, garden and museum visits, and casino stays.
For pricing, an eight-week booking window gives owners solid visibility into demand ahead of the June-through-August peak, allowing early bookings to be priced firmly while later gaps get discounted closer to arrival. The 4.02 night average stay means comparatively lower turnover than markets with 2 to 3 night averages, which can reduce cleaning and turnover costs per dollar of revenue. Given Rockford’s growing sports-tourism calendar, including multi-year commitments to Ironman 70.3, an AHL All-Star Classic, and the Women’s Baseball World Cup, owners should also watch for demand spikes tied to specific event dates rather than relying solely on the general seasonal pattern above.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Rockford permits short-term rentals, defined as stays under 30 consecutive days, but requires operators to register through the City’s Rental / Short-Term Rental Registry, which sits under the Residential Quality Support Ordinance and a dedicated Short-Term Rental Ordinance. The framework tiers rentals into three types: Type 1 covers owner-occupied primary residences; Type 2 covers non-owner-occupied properties in areas zoned for single-family homes, with no stated cap on rental nights; and Type 3 covers non-owner-occupied properties capped at roughly 90 rental nights per year.
Registration and approval typically require a property inspection and can take several weeks. Reported registration fees vary across sources, commonly cited anywhere from about $25 to $100 per year for a business license up to $200 to $500 depending on property size, so operators should confirm the exact current fee directly with the City. Renewal is annual, with periodic inspections expected. Operational rules focus on nuisance control: limits on the number of vehicles parked on the street and in the driveway, a ban on large parties, and a requirement that the owner or operator respond to noise complaints within one hour.
On taxes, Airbnb collects Rockford’s local Hotel/Motel Tourism Tax, about 5%, on stays of 30 nights or fewer, but Vrbo does not collect this tax for hosts, leaving operators responsible for remitting it themselves on Vrbo bookings. As of July 1, 2025, Illinois also applies its statewide Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax to short-term rentals, at 6% of 94% of gross receipts, which operators must remit regardless of platform. In late 2024, a city committee advanced additional STR regulations targeting nuisance activity, including the parking limits, party ban, and one-hour noise-complaint response requirement described above. Enforcement is rated moderate.
Market Comparison
The Rockford area’s 61.19% occupancy in June 2026 runs above the roughly 55% median occupancy typically seen across the broader U.S. short-term rental market, though its $189.28 average daily rate sits below the roughly $220 national median ADR, reflecting Rockford’s position as an affordable Midwest secondary market rather than a high-end resort destination.
Top property manager data in this data set is tracked at a shared regional level with at least one other Illinois market (Ottawa) rather than uniquely for Rockford, so this profile does not present specific operator names, listing counts, or ratings as Rockford-specific. Rockford’s own typical home value of $187,244.74 is notably affordable relative to national norms, and combined with the area’s above-average occupancy, supports one of the stronger rental-yield profiles in this project. Rockford’s growing sports-tourism infrastructure, including the 2024 opening of the Hard Rock Casino and multi-year commitments to major athletic events, is a more distinctive local growth driver than anything visible in the shared regional performance data alone.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rockford, Illinois
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