Best PlacesAlgona, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Algona, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Algona ranks 4,560th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Algona
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.
Algona's strengths and weaknesses
Where Algona ranks high
- Short commute11.9 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
Where Algona ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Algona
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Algona home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,382, 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 Algona'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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Algona
Algona 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 Algona.
Who works in Algona, and how
Work in Algona centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Algona
Algona has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns and more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Algona and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Algona, month by month
Algona sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Algona
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Algona
Schools across Algona average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lucia Wallace Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Luverne Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- North Union ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Algona Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Algona High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Algona school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Algona 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 Algona against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Algona
Is Algona a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Algona ranks 4,560th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, a stable housing market, and cell coverage, and lowest on property taxes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Algona expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,922. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $64,382 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Algona safe?
Yes, Algona is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $177 per resident a year.
Compare Algona with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Algona. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Algona 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.
Algona detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Algona: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Algona: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Algona: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Algona: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Algona 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.