Best Places51534, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 51534, 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.
51534 ranks 4,848th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 51534
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.
51534's strengths and weaknesses
Where 51534 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 96% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 51534 ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 51534
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 51534 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,282, 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 51534's effective rate of 1.28%, 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 51534
51534 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 51534.
Who works in 51534, and how
Work in 51534 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 51534
51534 has more parkland per resident than 91% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 51534 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 51534, month by month
51534 sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 51534
Eppley Airfield sits about 19 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 51534
Schools across 51534 average an A, better than 96% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Treynor Elementary SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- West Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Fremont-mills Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Treynor Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Glenwood Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Lewis Central Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
Top high schools
- Treynor High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- East Mills Jr/sr High SchoolA · 77% proficient
- Lewis Central Senior High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 51534 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
51534 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 51534 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 51534
Is 51534 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 51534 ranks 4,848th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 51534 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $269,498. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $91,282 median income, cost of living beats 84% of zip codes.
Is 51534 safe?
Yes, 51534 is safer than 90% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
Compare 51534 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 51534. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 51534 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.
51534 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 51534: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 51534: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 51534: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 51534: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
51534 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.