Best Places52251, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 52251, 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.
52251 ranks 16,469th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 52251
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.
52251's strengths and weaknesses
Where 52251 ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 92% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$701 a month, better than 74% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 73% of zip codes
Where 52251 ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 25% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 52251
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 52251 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,403, 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 52251's effective rate of 1.22%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 52251
52251 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 52251.
Who works in 52251, and how
Work in 52251 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 52251
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 52251.
What the weather is like in 52251, month by month
52251 sees roughly 99 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 52251
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around 52251
Schools across 52251 average an A, better than 92% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mary Welsh ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Iowa Valley Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- English Valleys Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Williamsburg Jr-sr High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Iowa Valley Jr-sr High SchoolA · 74% proficient
- H-l-v Junior-senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 52251 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
52251 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 52251 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 52251
Is 52251 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 52251 ranks 16,469th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on biking and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 52251 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,033. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $74,403 median income, cost of living beats 66% of zip codes.
Is 52251 safe?
52251 is safer than 47% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
Compare 52251 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 52251. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 52251 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.
52251 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 52251: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 52251: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 52251: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 52251: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
52251 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.