Best PlacesBurlington, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Burlington, 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.
Burlington ranks 1,430th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Burlington
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.
Burlington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Burlington ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Short commute16.7 minutes each way, better than 97% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of cities
- Cheap childcare$714 a month, better than 88% of cities
Where Burlington ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Household income$61,064 median, better than only 10% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 15% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Burlington
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Burlington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,064, 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 Burlington's effective rate of 1.51%, 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 Burlington
Burlington 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 Burlington.
Who works in Burlington, and how
Work in Burlington centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Burlington
Burlington has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Burlington and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Burlington, month by month
Burlington sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Burlington
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 148 miles away.
The best schools in and around Burlington
Schools across Burlington average a B+, better than 69% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- West Burlington Elem SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Mediapolis Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Danville Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mediapolis Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Fort Madison Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Aldo Leopold Intermediate SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Mediapolis High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- West Burlington Arnold Jr./sr. High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Danville Junior-senior High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Burlington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Burlington 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 Burlington against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Burlington suits
Retirees
The weather beats 57% of cities and health care access beats 62%.
Common questions about living in Burlington
Is Burlington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Burlington ranks 1,430th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a stable housing market, short commutes, and state finances, and lowest on internet speeds 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 Burlington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $131,800. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $61,064 median income, cost of living beats 27% of cities.
Is Burlington safe?
Burlington is safer than 32% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $372 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Burlington?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 19. That works out to about 95 pleasant days a year, more than 57% of cities.
Is Burlington good for families?
Schools beat 69% of cities, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $714 a month.
Compare Burlington with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Burlington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Burlington 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.
Burlington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Burlington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Burlington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Burlington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Burlington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Burlington 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.