Best Places51537, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 51537, 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.
51537 ranks 3,620th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 51537
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.
51537's strengths and weaknesses
Where 51537 ranks high
- Short commute14.6 minutes each way, better than 97% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 94% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of zip codes
Where 51537 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% 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 51537
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 51537 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,696, 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 51537's effective rate of 1.32%, 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 51537
51537 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 51537.
Who works in 51537, and how
Work in 51537 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 51537
51537 has more parkland per resident than 94% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 51537 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 51537, month by month
51537 sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 22° | 15° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 51537
Eppley Airfield sits about 38 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 51537
Schools across 51537 average an A, better than 94% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ahstw Primary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Irwin Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Harlan Intermediate SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ikm-manning Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Harlan Community Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Ahstw Intermediate SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
Top high schools
- Ahstw High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Harlan High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Ikm-manning High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 51537 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
51537 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 51537 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 51537
Is 51537 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 51537 ranks 3,620th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, good schools, and state finances, 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 51537 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,295. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $77,696 median income, cost of living beats 70% of zip codes.
Is 51537 safe?
Yes, 51537 is safer than 75% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
Compare 51537 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 51537. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 51537 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.
51537 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 51537: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 51537: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 51537: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 51537: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
51537 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.