Best Places52233, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 52233, 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.
52233 ranks 4,258th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 52233
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.
52233's strengths and weaknesses
Where 52233 ranks high
- Short commute16.0 minutes each way, better than 95% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 52233 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 52233
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 52233 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,362, 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 52233's effective rate of 1.62%, 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 52233
52233 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 52233.
Who works in 52233, and how
Work in 52233 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 52233
52233 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 95% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 52233 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 52233, month by month
52233 sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 52233
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around 52233
Schools across 52233 average an A−, better than 87% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Viola Gibson Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Hiawatha Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Nixon Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harding Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- John F Kennedy High SchoolA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 52233 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
52233 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 52233 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 52233
Is 52233 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 52233 ranks 4,258th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, state finances, and biking, 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 52233 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,572. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $82,362 median income, cost of living beats 69% of zip codes.
Is 52233 safe?
Yes, 52233 is safer than 89% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $187 per resident a year.
Compare 52233 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 52233. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 52233 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.
52233 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 52233: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 52233: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 52233: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 52233: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
52233 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.