Best Places51556, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 51556, 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.
51556 ranks 10,477th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 51556
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.
51556's strengths and weaknesses
Where 51556 ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 93% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of zip codes
Where 51556 ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 51556
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 51556 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,294, 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 51556's effective rate of 1.20%, 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 51556
51556 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 51556.
Who works in 51556, and how
Work in 51556 centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 51556
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 51556.
What the weather is like in 51556, month by month
51556 sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 51556
Eppley Airfield sits about 24 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 51556
Schools across 51556 average an A, better than 93% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Missouri Valley ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- West Harrison ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Missouri Valley Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Tri-center High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Woodbine High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Missouri Valley High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 51556 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
51556 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 51556 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 51556
Is 51556 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 51556 ranks 10,477th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and a strong job market, and lowest on tree cover and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 51556 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $257,056. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $78,294 median income, cost of living beats 67% of zip codes.
Is 51556 safe?
Yes, 51556 is safer than 74% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $224 per resident a year.
Compare 51556 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 51556. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 51556 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.
51556 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 51556: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 51556: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 51556: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 51556: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
51556 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.