Climatch

Land with a climate like Sterling, Illinois

🇺🇸Sterling, Illinois, United States

The towns with the closest growing climate to Sterling, Illinois are Cedar Rapids, United States (99% match), Dubuque and Des Moines. About 547,000 sq mi of land in 12 countries matches 80% or better, most of it in Iowa, United States, Illinois, United States and Ohio, United States.The towns with the closest growing climate to Sterling, Illinois are Cedar Rapids, United States (99% match), Dubuque and Des Moines. About 1.4 million km² of land in 12 countries matches 80% or better, most of it in Iowa, United States, Illinois, United States and Ohio, United States.

Your growing climate

Zone 6a · 177 frost-free days · 3,157 chill hours · 38 in rainZone 6a · 177 frost-free days · 3,157 chill hours · 976 mm rain

What grows in Sterling, Illinois →

Regions with the most land like yours

  1. 1

    🇺🇸Iowa, United States

    48k sq mi124k km² matching 80% or better

    For example Marion (99), Cedar Rapids (99)

  2. 2

    🇺🇸Illinois, United States

    45k sq mi117k km² matching 80% or better

    For example Loves Park (99), Machesney Park (99)

  3. 3

    🇺🇸Ohio, United States

    41k sq mi107k km² matching 80% or better

    For example Bowling Green (98), Tiffin (97)

  4. 4

    🇨🇦Ontario, Canada

    18k sq mi46k km² matching 80% or better

    For example LaSalle (95), Tecumseh (94)

  5. 5

    🇷🇸Central Serbia, Serbia

    5,600 sq mi15k km² matching 80% or better

    For example Užice (84), Gornji Milanovac (80)

  6. 6

    🇷🇺Krasnodar Krai, Russia

    4,500 sq mi12k km² matching 80% or better

    For example Mostovskoy (85), Otradnaya (84)

  7. 7

    🇷🇴Hunedoara County, Romania

    2,500 sq mi6,500 km² matching 80% or better

    For example Hunedoara (81), Petroşani (81)

  8. 8

    🇷🇴Cluj County, Romania

    2,200 sq mi5,800 km² matching 80% or better

    For example Gherla (84), Câmpia Turzii (83)

  9. 9

    🇷🇴Sălaj County, Romania

    1,800 sq mi4,700 km² matching 80% or better

    For example Şimleu Silvaniei (80), Zalău (79)

  10. 10

    🇺🇦Zakarpattia, Ukraine

    1,800 sq mi4,600 km² matching 80% or better

    For example Khust (84), Svalyava (83)

  11. 11

    🇯🇵Nagano, Japan

    1,700 sq mi4,400 km² matching 80% or better

    For example Ōmachi (84), Chino (79)

  12. 12

    🇷🇺Stavropol Kray, Russia

    1,500 sq mi3,900 km² matching 80% or better

    For example Yessentukskaya (83), Suvorovskaya (82)

Regions are states and provinces, counting land within 75 km of a town. At most three per country, so the list covers the world.

Closest towns

  1. 1

    🇺🇸Cedar RapidsIowa, United States

    Zone 6a · 179 frost-free days · 3,143 chill hours · 37 in rainZone 6a · 179 frost-free days · 3,143 chill hours · 929 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  2. 2

    🇺🇸DubuqueIowa, United States

    Zone 6a · 178 frost-free days · 3,214 chill hours · 35 in rainZone 6a · 178 frost-free days · 3,214 chill hours · 883 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  3. 3

    🇺🇸Des MoinesIowa, United States

    Zone 6a · 184 frost-free days · 3,046 chill hours · 34 in rainZone 6a · 184 frost-free days · 3,046 chill hours · 876 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  4. 4

    🇺🇸JanesvilleWisconsin, United States

    Zone 6a · 165 frost-free days · 3,279 chill hours · 35 in rainZone 6a · 165 frost-free days · 3,279 chill hours · 887 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  5. 5

    🇺🇸MarshalltownIowa, United States

    Zone 6a · 171 frost-free days · 3,228 chill hours · 35 in rainZone 6a · 171 frost-free days · 3,228 chill hours · 884 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  6. 6

    🇺🇸AmesIowa, United States

    Zone 6a · 173 frost-free days · 3,198 chill hours · 34 in rainZone 6a · 173 frost-free days · 3,198 chill hours · 859 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  7. 7

    🇺🇸OswegoIllinois, United States

    Zone 6b · 179 frost-free days · 3,079 chill hours · 39 in rainZone 6b · 179 frost-free days · 3,079 chill hours · 990 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  8. 8

    🇺🇸AuroraIllinois, United States

    Zone 6b · 183 frost-free days · 3,073 chill hours · 40 in rainZone 6b · 183 frost-free days · 3,073 chill hours · 1,005 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  9. 9

    🇺🇸OttawaIllinois, United States

    Zone 6b · 185 frost-free days · 2,996 chill hours · 36 in rainZone 6b · 185 frost-free days · 2,996 chill hours · 927 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  10. 10

    🇺🇸MilwaukeeWisconsin, United States

    Zone 6b · 179 frost-free days · 3,232 chill hours · 33 in rainZone 6b · 179 frost-free days · 3,232 chill hours · 849 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops · Also great there: wine grapes

    99%match
  11. 11

    🇺🇸DeKalbIllinois, United States

    Zone 6a · 177 frost-free days · 3,188 chill hours · 38 in rainZone 6a · 177 frost-free days · 3,188 chill hours · 961 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  12. 12

    🇺🇸AdrianMichigan, United States

    Zone 6b · 177 frost-free days · 3,144 chill hours · 35 in rainZone 6b · 177 frost-free days · 3,144 chill hours · 878 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops · Also great there: wine grapes

    99%match
  13. 13

    🇺🇸WaterlooIowa, United States

    Zone 5b · 173 frost-free days · 3,254 chill hours · 35 in rainZone 5b · 173 frost-free days · 3,254 chill hours · 901 mm rain

    Shares 19 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  14. 14

    🇺🇸Rock IslandIllinois, United States

    Zone 6b · 186 frost-free days · 2,974 chill hours · 36 in rainZone 6b · 186 frost-free days · 2,974 chill hours · 919 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  15. 15

    🇺🇸DavenportIowa, United States

    Zone 6b · 186 frost-free days · 2,974 chill hours · 36 in rainZone 6b · 186 frost-free days · 2,974 chill hours · 919 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    99%match
  16. 16

    🇺🇸KankakeeIllinois, United States

    Zone 6b · 184 frost-free days · 3,002 chill hours · 39 in rainZone 6b · 184 frost-free days · 3,002 chill hours · 995 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    98%match
  17. 17

    🇺🇸GalesburgIllinois, United States

    Zone 6b · 186 frost-free days · 2,992 chill hours · 38 in rainZone 6b · 186 frost-free days · 2,992 chill hours · 964 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    98%match
  18. 18

    🇺🇸Orland ParkIllinois, United States

    Zone 6b · 184 frost-free days · 3,036 chill hours · 39 in rainZone 6b · 184 frost-free days · 3,036 chill hours · 997 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops

    98%match
  19. 19

    🇺🇸KalamazooMichigan, United States

    Zone 6b · 183 frost-free days · 3,130 chill hours · 38 in rainZone 6b · 183 frost-free days · 3,130 chill hours · 959 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops · Also great there: wine grapes

    98%match
  20. 20

    🇺🇸PortageIndiana, United States

    Zone 6b · 184 frost-free days · 3,034 chill hours · 39 in rainZone 6b · 184 frost-free days · 3,034 chill hours · 993 mm rain

    Shares 20 of your 20 great-fit crops · Also great there: wine grapes

    98%match

Any town over 15,000 people, skipping those within 75 km of you. ↻ = seasons flipped across the equator.

How matching works

We compare all twelve months of average highs and lows, rain, humidity and sunshine, the same way as Climatch's places-like search, but weighted for growing: winter lows count most, since frost, chill and hardiness decide which perennials survive, then summer highs and rain. Humidity counts least.

Scores show how unusual a match this close is: 80 or better is closer than all but about 2% of random pairs of places. Across the equator seasons are lined up (↻), so a southern farm's January is compared with a northern July. Climate is only part of it: check soil, water and day length (it matters for photoperiod crops) before buying land.

Looking for land?

We're building detailed reports on land like Sterling, Illinois: frost risk year by year, water, and how each match's climate is shifting by 2050.

We'll only use your email for the report and related updates.

Climate data: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages (Abatzoglou, J.T. et al., 2018, Scientific Data 5:170191). Humidity is derived from TerraClimate vapor pressure; “sunshine” is solar radiation.

Places: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

Grower tools: crop ranges from FAO ECOCROP and university extension guides (cited per crop). Daily weather, frost dates and chill are estimated from the monthly averages; chill portions use the Dynamic Model (Fishman, Erez & Couvillon, 1987), hardiness zones follow the USDA definition.