Best Places51526, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 51526, 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.
51526 ranks 5,187th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 51526
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.
51526's strengths and weaknesses
Where 51526 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 51526 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 31% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 32% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 34% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 51526
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 51526 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,726, 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 51526's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 51526
51526 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 51526.
Who works in 51526, and how
Work in 51526 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 51526
51526 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 51526 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 51526, month by month
51526 sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 15° |
| April | 68° | 52° | 39° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 51526
Eppley Airfield sits about 4 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 51526
Schools across 51526 average an A−, better than 82% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Underwood Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Missouri Valley ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Lewis & Clark Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Underwood Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Missouri Valley Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Gerald W Kirn Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Underwood High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Missouri Valley High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Abraham Lincoln High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 51526 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
51526 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 51526 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 51526
Is 51526 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 51526 ranks 5,187th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, state finances, and civic engagement, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 51526 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $323,758. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $94,726 median income, cost of living beats 86% of zip codes.
Is 51526 safe?
Yes, 51526 is safer than 94% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $158 per resident a year.
Compare 51526 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 51526. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 51526 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.
51526 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 51526: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 51526: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 51526: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 51526: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
51526 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.