Best Places50677, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 50677, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
50677 ranks 2,524th 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 50677
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.
50677's strengths and weaknesses
Where 50677 ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 97% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Short commute17.9 minutes each way, better than 92% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 50677 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 32% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 50677
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 50677 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,217, 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 50677's effective rate of 1.43%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 50677
50677 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 50677.
Who works in 50677, and how
Work in 50677 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in 50677
50677 has more parkland per resident than 95% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 50677 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 50677, month by month
50677 sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 20° | 11° |
| April | 63° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 50677
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 153 miles away.
The best schools in and around 50677
Schools across 50677 average an A+, better than 97% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- K-5 Elementary School Lincoln Street BuildingA+ · 81% proficient
- West Cedar Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Southeast Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Denver Middle SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Waverly-shell Rock Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Sumner-fredericksburg Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Denver Senior High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Waverly-shell Rock Senior High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Nashua-plainfield Junior-seniorhigh SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 50677 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
50677 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 50677 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 50677
Is 50677 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 50677 ranks 2,524th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and state finances, and lowest on property taxes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 50677 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,003. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $83,217 median income, cost of living beats 79% of zip codes.
Is 50677 safe?
Yes, 50677 is safer than 88% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $187 per resident a year.
Compare 50677 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 50677. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 50677 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.
50677 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 50677: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 50677: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 50677: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 50677: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
50677 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.