Best Places52158, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 52158, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
52158 ranks 23,710th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 52158
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.
52158's strengths and weaknesses
Where 52158 ranks high
- Short commute16.3 minutes each way, better than 95% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of zip codes
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of zip codes
Where 52158 ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Household income$49,879 median, better than only 11% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 52158
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 52158 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $49,879; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 52158's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 52158
52158 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 52158.
Who works in 52158, and how
Work in 52158 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 52158
52158 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 52158 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 52158, month by month
52158 sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of 52158
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 162 miles away.
The best schools in and around 52158
Schools across 52158 average an A−, better than 87% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mfl Marmac Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Mcgregor Intermediate SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Mfl Marmac HsA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 52158 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
52158 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 52158 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 52158
Is 52158 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 52158 ranks 23,710th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, state finances, and tree cover, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 52158 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $200,500. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $49,879 median income, cost of living beats 9% of zip codes.
Is 52158 safe?
52158 is safer than 30% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $375 per resident a year.
Compare 52158 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 52158. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 52158 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.
52158 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 52158: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 52158: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 52158: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 52158: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
52158 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.