Best PlacesAudubon County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Audubon County, 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.
Audubon County ranks 790th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Audubon 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.
Audubon County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Audubon County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 97% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of counties
- Short commute19.0 minutes each way, better than 84% of counties
Where Audubon County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of counties
- Household income$59,210 median, better than only 24% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 26% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 29% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Audubon County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Audubon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,210, 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 Audubon County's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Audubon County
Audubon 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 Audubon County.
Who works in Audubon County, and how
Work in Audubon County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Audubon County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Audubon County.
Is Audubon County growing, and who is moving in?
Audubon County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Siskiyou County, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Audubon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Audubon County, month by month
Audubon County sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Audubon County
Eppley Airfield sits about 56 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Audubon County
Schools across Audubon County average an A, better than 97% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Irwin Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Cr-b Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Guthrie Center Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ikm-manning Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Harlan Community Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Adair-casey Jr. High SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Audubon Middle-high SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Atlantic High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Ikm-manning High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Audubon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Audubon 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 Audubon County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Audubon County
Is Audubon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Audubon County ranks 790th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and state finances, and lowest on tree cover and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Audubon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $138,070. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $59,210 median income, cost of living beats 26% of counties.
Is Audubon County safe?
Yes, Audubon County is safer than 66% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $282 per resident a year.
Compare Audubon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Audubon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Audubon 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.
Audubon County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Audubon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Audubon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Audubon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Audubon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Audubon 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.