Best PlacesBettendorf, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bettendorf, 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.
Bettendorf ranks 73rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bettendorf
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.
Bettendorf's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bettendorf ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of cities
Where Bettendorf ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 12% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 28% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 40% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Bettendorf
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bettendorf home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $113,377, 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 Bettendorf's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bettendorf
Bettendorf'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 Bettendorf.
Who works in Bettendorf, and how
Work in Bettendorf centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bettendorf
Bettendorf has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bettendorf and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bettendorf, month by month
Bettendorf sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Bettendorf
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bettendorf
Schools across Bettendorf average an A+, better than 98% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hopewell ElementaryA+ · 90% proficient
- Pleasant View Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Cody Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pleasant Valley Junior High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- North Scott Junior High SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Bettendorf Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Pleasant Valley High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- North Scott High SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Bettendorf High SchoolA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bettendorf school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bettendorf 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 Bettendorf against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Bettendorf suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Bettendorf
Is Bettendorf a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bettendorf ranks 73rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a stable housing market, good schools, and low disaster risk, and lowest on noise 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 Bettendorf expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $314,359. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $113,377 median income, cost of living beats 83% of cities.
Is Bettendorf safe?
Yes, Bettendorf is safer than 93% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bettendorf?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 17. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 51% of cities.
Is Bettendorf good for families?
Schools beat 98% of cities, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $737 a month.
Compare Bettendorf with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bettendorf. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bettendorf 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.
Bettendorf detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bettendorf: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bettendorf: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bettendorf: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bettendorf: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bettendorf 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.