Best PlacesAlleman, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alleman, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alleman ranks 168th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alleman
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.
Alleman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alleman ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
Where Alleman ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
- TransitBetter than only 44% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 45% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 48% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Alleman
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alleman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $114,059, 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 Alleman's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alleman
Alleman'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 Alleman.
Who works in Alleman, and how
Work in Alleman centers on health care & social and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Alleman
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Alleman.
What the weather is like in Alleman, month by month
Alleman sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 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 | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Alleman
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alleman
Schools across Alleman average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ballard East ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- North Polk Central Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Earlham Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Polk Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Ballard Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Earlham Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- North Polk High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Ballard High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Earlham Senior High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alleman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alleman 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 Alleman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Alleman
Is Alleman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alleman ranks 168th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, low crime, and what local pay buys, and lowest on tree cover and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alleman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $336,597. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $114,059 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Alleman safe?
Yes, Alleman is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $128 per resident a year.
Compare Alleman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alleman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alleman 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.
Alleman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alleman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alleman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alleman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alleman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alleman 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.