Best PlacesCedar Falls, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cedar Falls, 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.
Cedar Falls ranks 246th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cedar Falls
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 Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Cedar Falls ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of cities
- Short commute14.2 minutes each way, better than 99% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of cities
- School gradeA+, better than 96% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of cities
Where Cedar Falls ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 36% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 39% of cities
- Household income$83,303 median, better than only 39% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Cedar Falls
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cedar Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,303, 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 Falls' effective rate of 1.30%, 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 Cedar Falls
Cedar Falls runs younger 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 Cedar Falls.
Who works in Cedar Falls, and how
Work in Cedar Falls centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Cedar Falls
Cedar Falls has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 98% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cedar Falls and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cedar Falls, month by month
Cedar Falls sees roughly 89 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 Cedar Falls
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cedar Falls
Schools across Cedar Falls average an A+, better than 96% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Helen A Hansen Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Bess Streeter Aldrich ElementaryA+ · 84% proficient
- K-5 Elementary School Lincoln Street BuildingA+ · 81% proficient
Top middle schools
- Denver Middle SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Dike-new Hartford Junior High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Peet Junior High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top high schools
- Denver Senior High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Cedar Falls High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Waverly-shell Rock Senior High SchoolA · 76% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cedar Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cedar Falls 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 Falls against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Cedar Falls suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Cedar Falls
Is Cedar Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cedar Falls ranks 246th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on fast internet, short commutes, and state finances, and lowest on distance from a big city 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 Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $273,523. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $83,303 median income, cost of living beats 56% of cities.
Is Cedar Falls safe?
Yes, Cedar Falls is safer than 93% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $203 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cedar Falls?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 31 with lows near 11. That works out to about 89 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of cities.
Is Cedar Falls good for families?
Schools beat 96% of cities, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $736 a month.
Compare Cedar Falls with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cedar Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cedar Falls 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 Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cedar Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cedar Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cedar Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cedar Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cedar Falls 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.