For fiscal year 2025, Rock Falls recorded a median commercial property tax rate of 1.7%, ranking third-highest in Whiteside County, data from BlockShopper.com show.
The countywide median was 2.2% during the same period, making Rock Falls 0.5 percentage points lower than that figure.
Within Whiteside County’s five cities, commercial property tax rates ranged from 1.1% in Erie to 2.8% in Fulton.
Rock Falls posted a median commercial rate of 1.6% in fiscal year 2024, which had ranked it second in the county at that time.
The average commercial property tax rate across 53 major U.S. cities stood at 1.76% in 2024, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Their analysis found the annual tax bill on a $1 million property with $200,000 in fixtures to be around $21,060. Rates varied significantly across localities, with some cities below 1% and others reaching up to 4%.
States with classification systems often impose higher effective property tax rates on commercial, industrial and apartment buildings than on residential properties. In certain jurisdictions, businesses face tax rates several times higher than those for residential property; for instance, Charleston’s commercial tax rate can be about six times greater.
| Rank | City | Tax Rate % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fulton | 2.8% |
| 2 | Sterling | 2.4% |
| 3 | Rock Falls | 1.7% |
| 4 | Morrison | 1.4% |
| 5 | Erie | 1.1% |
| Rank | Address | Tax Rate % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 221 W. 14th St. | 2% |
| 2 | 313 First Ave. | 1.7% |
| 3 | 305 W Route 30 | 1.5% |
Note: Some property addresses may be incomplete or missing due to limitations in county assessor data.
Information for this article was sourced from BlockShopper.com. The original data is available here.
