Best PlacesAurora, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Aurora, 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.
Aurora ranks 13,403rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Aurora
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.
Aurora's strengths and weaknesses
Where Aurora ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of towns
Where Aurora ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Aurora
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Aurora home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,580, 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 Aurora's effective rate of 1.26%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Aurora
Aurora runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Aurora.
Who works in Aurora, and how
Work in Aurora centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Aurora
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Aurora.
What the weather is like in Aurora, month by month
Aurora sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Aurora
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 175 miles away.
The best schools in and around Aurora
Schools across Aurora average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Starmont Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- East Buchanan Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Wings Park Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Buchanan Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Starmont Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Oelwein Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Independence Junior Senior High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Starmont High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Oelwein High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Aurora school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Aurora 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 Aurora against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Aurora
Is Aurora a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Aurora ranks 13,403rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, few empty homes, and the weather, and lowest on a weak job market and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Aurora expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $139,534. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $67,580 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Aurora safe?
Yes, Aurora is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
Compare Aurora with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Aurora. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Aurora 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.
Aurora detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Aurora: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Aurora: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Aurora: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Aurora: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Aurora 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.