Sterling.
Illinois·
Neighborhoods
POPMEDIAN
Illinois·
Illinois
Foundation
Daily Life
Money & Work
Fair Housing. Race, ethnicity, language, national origin, income, disability, household makeup, commute and vehicle access, home tenure, and similar characteristics shown anywhere in this report are descriptive context only — never used to rate, score, or rank a place. Using protected-class characteristics to evaluate a neighborhood may violate the Fair Housing Act.
Illinois·Whiteside County
6 tracts·14K people·$109K median·2,315/mi²
White 65 · Hispanic 27 · Multiracial 4 · Black 2 · Asian 1 · Other 1
Living alone 39 · Married couple 36 · Other 24
Health 42 · Professional 17 · Retail 14 · Manufacturing 13 · Leisure 9 · Public admin 3 · Other 3
Management · business · science · arts 34 · Production · transport 25 · Sales · office 18 · Service 18 · Construction · maintenance 5
Drive alone 79 · Carpool 16 · Work from home 6 · Walk 5 · Bike 2 · Transit 0
Rep-tract reading · same station-interpolated source as address reports
Rep-tract reading · FEMA National Risk Index, national ranks 0–100; the tick is the national median
Showing up to 10 schools per level · School assignment depends on the exact address; open a neighborhood or address report to see your assigned schools.
The median home value in Sterling is $108,700 (Census ACS 2020–2024) — 0.2× the US median of $458,812.
Sterling has 14,717 residents across 5 census tracts and 6 named neighborhoods (Census ACS 2020–2024).
The median age is 42.6; the population is 65.2% White, 26.8% Hispanic or Latino, 4.0% Multiracial, 2.2% Black, 1.2% Asian and 0.7% Other; the average household has 2.2 people; 21.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher; the poverty rate is 15.3% (Census ACS 2020–2024).
Franklin Elem School (48%), Jefferson Elem School (35%) and Washington Elem School (32%) lead the elementary schools; Challand Middle School is the middle school with reported scores (26%); Sterling High School is the high school with reported scores (19%). Average of ELA and math proficiency (state DOE / NCES).
Median gross rent is $859/month, 46% below the US median (Census ACS 2020–2024).
The median household income in Sterling is $57,350 a year, 33% below the US median (Census ACS 2020–2024).
In Sterling, median rent is $859/month and the median home value is $108,700 (Census ACS 2020–2024).
Sterling reported 1.9 violent crimes and 11.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents (FBI UCR, 2023).
Summer highs average 83°F; winter lows average 17°F; there are 78 comfortable days a year; annual rainfall is 39 inches (NOAA GridMET).
The highest-rated natural hazards in Sterling are strong wind (91), hail (86) and drought (82), scored 0–100 against all US communities (FEMA National Risk Index). Peak ground shaking is 0.10g (USGS; 2% chance in 50 years).
In Sterling, 4.6% of workers walk to work (Census ACS).