Best Places50133, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 50133, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
50133 ranks 18,316th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 50133
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
50133's strengths and weaknesses
Where 50133 ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 95% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 50133 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 50133
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 50133 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,422, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 50133's effective rate of 1.51%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 50133
50133 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 50133.
Who works in 50133, and how
Work in 50133 centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in 50133
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 50133.
What the weather is like in 50133, month by month
50133 sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 50133
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 104 miles away.
The best schools in and around 50133
Schools across 50133 average an A, better than 95% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Ayr ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- North Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Lamoni Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lamoni Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Mount Ayr High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Central Decatur Ms/hs High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Lamoni High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 50133 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
50133 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 50133 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 50133
Is 50133 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 50133 ranks 18,316th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and quiet, and lowest on property taxes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 50133 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,389. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $64,422 median income, cost of living beats 14% of zip codes.
Is 50133 safe?
50133 is safer than 54% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $283 per resident a year.
Compare 50133 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 50133. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 50133 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
50133 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 50133: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 50133: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 50133: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 50133: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
50133 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.