Best Places50276, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 50276, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
50276 ranks 2,651st 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 50276
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.
50276's strengths and weaknesses
Where 50276 ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 95% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 50276 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 32% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 36% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 50276
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 50276 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,774, 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 50276's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 50276
50276 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 50276.
Who works in 50276, and how
Work in 50276 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 50276
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 50276.
What the weather is like in 50276, month by month
50276 sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 22° | 13° |
| April | 64° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 50276
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around 50276
Schools across 50276 average an A, better than 95% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- North Ridge ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Ogden Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Perry ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodward-granger Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Dallas Center-grimes Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Ogden Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodward-granger High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Dallas Center-grimes High SchoolA · 77% proficient
- Ogden High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 50276 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
50276 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 50276 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 50276
Is 50276 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 50276 ranks 2,651st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and low crime, and lowest on property taxes and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 50276 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $267,131. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $87,774 median income, cost of living beats 83% of zip codes.
Is 50276 safe?
Yes, 50276 is safer than 91% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $174 per resident a year.
Compare 50276 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 50276. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 50276 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.
50276 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 50276: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 50276: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 50276: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 50276: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
50276 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.