Best Places51024, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 51024, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
51024 ranks 3,125th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 51024
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.
51024's strengths and weaknesses
Where 51024 ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 96% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 51024 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 25% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 36% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 51024
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 51024 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $112,935, 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 51024's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 51024
51024 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 51024.
Who works in 51024, and how
Work in 51024 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 51024
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 51024.
What the weather is like in 51024, month by month
51024 sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 50° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 51024
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 93 miles away.
The best schools in and around 51024
Schools across 51024 average an A, better than 96% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Remsen-union Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Bronson Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Kluckhohn Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hinton Intermediate SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Le Mars Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Remsen-union Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Kingsley-pierson High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Lawton-bronson Junior-senior High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Hinton High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 51024 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
51024 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 51024 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 51024
Is 51024 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 51024 ranks 3,125th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and low crime, and lowest on noise 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 51024 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $342,464. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $112,935 median income, cost of living beats 92% of zip codes.
Is 51024 safe?
Yes, 51024 is safer than 94% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $163 per resident a year.
Compare 51024 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 51024. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 51024 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.
51024 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 51024: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 51024: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 51024: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 51024: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
51024 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.