Living in DeKalb, IL
DeKalb is a small city of 40,443 people in DeKalb County, Illinois. It's about 28 miles from Rockford, IL and 55 miles from Chicago, IL, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 83°F and winter highs 28°F, with about 33 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $205k and rent runs about $1k a month.
40,443people
$205kTypical home
$1,029/moRent
83° / 28°Summer / winter
33"Snow
224Sunny days
121Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Small city of 40,443
- Part of a metro area
- About 2,309 people per sq mi
- 55 mi to Chicago, IL
- 28 mi to Rockford, IL
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $205k (≈$1,291/mo)
- Median rent $1,029/mo
- Median household income $46k
- Property tax about 2.7% of value
- 10.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 83°F
- Winter highs around 28°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 63°F)
- 224 sunny days a year (79 totally clear)
- 141 cloudy days a year
- 47 of 90 winter days are gray
- 121 days a year with rain or snow
- 33" of snow a year
- 11 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 32 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- Low violent crime (261 per 100k)
- Above-average property crime (2,143 per 100k)
People
- Median age 26
- 26% of households have kids
- 11% are 65 or older
- 34% have a college degree
- Very diverse community
- 26% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 25 min
- 9% walk or take transit to work
- 26 mi to RFD airport
- 43 mi to ORD (major hub)
- 32 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 49% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1976
- 91% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 883 ft
- 647 mi to the ocean
- 52 mi to a big lake
- 10 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 28 mi to the nearest ski area
- 14 mi to the nearest campground
- 38 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 398 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 89 bars within 25 mi
- 93 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 31 museums within 25 mi
- 5 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 19 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 26% of Illinois districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 2 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 2 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 2 mi to the nearest vet
- 2 mi to the nearest dog park
- 6 congregations per 10k people
- 2 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- DeKalb County: Purple — split almost evenly
- Illinois: D+11 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Low flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- Moderate winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk