Chicago / Rock Island
Rock Island has 36,151 residents (give or take 422) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US1765078, checked 2026-10-19), about 2,062 people per square mile.
Rock Island is about 152 miles from the Census center point for Chicago in a straight line and covers 17.534 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Rock Island that is 61201 (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision and ZCTA to place relationship files, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt and https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 15,285 occupied homes in Rock Island, 78% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 19% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US1765078, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 78% of Rock Island against electricity at 19%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
Rock Island has about the Rock Island County oil share of 0% and 1 points more electric heat than the county's 18% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US17161, checked 2026-10-19).
Rock Island has 16,533 housing units, 33% built before 1940 and 84% before 1980, with 7% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1765078, checked 2026-10-19).
Rock Island has 11 points more pre-1940 homes than Rock Island County as a whole (22%) and 3 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 10% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US17161, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Rock Island home was built in 1954 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US1765078, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.4 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US1765078, checked 2026-10-19).
68% of Rock Island homes are single-family detached, 7% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 20% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US1765078, checked 2026-10-19).
35% of Rock Island homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US1765078, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 68% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
33% of Rock Island homes were built before 1940 and 84% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US1765078, checked 2026-10-19), so insulation is the first sizing question: an older home leaks more heat per square foot, and the installer runs a room-by-room heat-loss calculation to size the system for what the walls and windows actually hold in, not just the floor plan.
No electric utility is on file for Rock Island on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Ameren Illinois Instant Incentives (ducted ASHP), run by Ameren Illinois, is a live program for Illinois addresses and lists a standard figure of $900 (registry row 45 verified 2026-10-15, https://amerenillinoissavings.com/residential/ducted-air-source-heat-pump/, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Rock Island address before counting it. With 19% of Rock Island homes already on electric heat and 79% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Median household income in Rock Island is $59,041 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US1765078, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
Heating design temperature: -2F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Rock Island County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 29 to 33 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That -2F figure is the Rock Island County cold-day number a Rock Island heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -2F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 78% of Rock Island on gas and 19% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Rock Island house from before 1940 (33% of the 16,533 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Rock Island. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Rock Island yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.