Best PlacesButler County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Butler County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Butler County ranks 392nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Butler 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.
Butler County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Butler County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 97% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
Where Butler County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 23% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 33% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Butler County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Butler County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,835, 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 Butler County's effective rate of 1.25%, 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 Butler County
Butler 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 Butler County.
Who works in Butler County, and how
Work in Butler County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Butler County
Butler County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 83% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Butler County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Butler County growing, and who is moving in?
Butler County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Waterloo, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Butler County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Butler County, month by month
Butler County sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 20° | 11° |
| April | 63° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Butler County
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 152 miles away.
The best schools in and around Butler County
Schools across Butler County average an A, better than 97% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Cedar Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- New Hartford Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Nashua-plainfield Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dike-new Hartford Junior High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Waverly-shell Rock Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Aplington-parkersburg Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Cedar Falls High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Waverly-shell Rock Senior High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Aplington-parkersburg High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Butler County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Butler 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 Butler County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Butler County
Is Butler County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Butler County ranks 392nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and low crime, and lowest on property taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Butler County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,179. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $73,835 median income, cost of living beats 76% of counties.
Is Butler County safe?
Yes, Butler County is safer than 95% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
Compare Butler County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Butler County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Butler 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.
Butler County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Butler County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Butler County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Butler County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Butler County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Butler 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.