Best PlacesAfton, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Afton, 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.
Afton ranks 18,116th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Afton
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.
Afton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Afton ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 90% of towns
- Short commute19.7 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
Where Afton ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Afton
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Afton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,977, 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 Afton's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Afton
Afton's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Afton.
Who works in Afton, and how
Work in Afton centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Afton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Afton.
What the weather is like in Afton, month by month
Afton sees roughly 63 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 Afton
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Afton
Schools across Afton average an A, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Union ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Creston Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Murray Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Creston Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Creston High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- East Union Middle-high SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Murray Jr/sr HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Afton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Afton 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 Afton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Afton
Is Afton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Afton ranks 18,116th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, state finances, and civic engagement, and lowest on a weak job market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Afton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $120,383. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $60,977 median income, cost of living beats 51% of towns.
Is Afton safe?
Afton is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $282 per resident a year.
Compare Afton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Afton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Afton 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.
Afton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Afton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Afton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Afton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Afton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Afton 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.