Best PlacesCedar Bluff, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cedar Bluff, 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.
Cedar Bluff ranks 4,567th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cedar Bluff
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.
Cedar Bluff's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cedar Bluff ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
Where Cedar Bluff ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of towns
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 24% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cedar Bluff
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cedar Bluff home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $106,525, 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 Cedar Bluff's effective rate of 1.19%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cedar Bluff
Cedar Bluff's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cedar Bluff.
Who works in Cedar Bluff, and how
Work in Cedar Bluff centers on retail trade and other services. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Cedar Bluff
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cedar Bluff.
What the weather is like in Cedar Bluff, month by month
Cedar Bluff sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Cedar Bluff
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 176 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cedar Bluff
Schools across Cedar Bluff average an A, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeview ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Lisbon Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Tipton Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Solon Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- West Branch Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Tipton Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Solon High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Lisbon SecondaryA · 78% proficient
- Tipton High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cedar Bluff school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cedar Bluff 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 Cedar Bluff against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cedar Bluff
Is Cedar Bluff a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cedar Bluff ranks 4,567th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, what local pay buys, and good schools, and lowest on walkability and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cedar Bluff expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $251,821. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $106,525 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Cedar Bluff safe?
Yes, Cedar Bluff is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $192 per resident a year.
Compare Cedar Bluff with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cedar Bluff. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cedar Bluff 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.
Cedar Bluff detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cedar Bluff: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cedar Bluff: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cedar Bluff: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cedar Bluff: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cedar Bluff 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.