Best PlacesAdair County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Adair County, 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.
Adair County ranks 718th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Adair County
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.
Adair County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Adair County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 85% of counties
Where Adair County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 25% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Adair County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Adair County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,124, 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 Adair County's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 Adair County
Adair County 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 Adair County.
Who works in Adair County, and how
Work in Adair County centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Adair County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Adair County.
Is Adair County growing, and who is moving in?
Adair County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Des Moines, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Adair County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Adair County, month by month
Adair County sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Adair County
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Adair County
Schools across Adair County average an A−, better than 92% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cam South Elementary SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Nodaway Valley Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Orient Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Iowa Connections Academy Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Earlham Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Nodaway Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Iowa Connections Academy High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- West Central Valley High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Cam High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Adair County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Adair County 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 Adair County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Adair County
Is Adair County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Adair County ranks 718th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and state finances, 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 Adair County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,109. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $67,124 median income, cost of living beats 50% of counties.
Is Adair County safe?
Yes, Adair County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $217 per resident a year.
Compare Adair County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Adair County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Adair County 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.
Adair County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Adair County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Adair County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Adair County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Adair County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Adair County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.