Best PlacesChickasaw County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Chickasaw 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.
Chickasaw County ranks 235th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chickasaw 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.
Chickasaw County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chickasaw County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 97% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of counties
Where Chickasaw County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 29% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 34% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Chickasaw County
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chickasaw County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,269, 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 Chickasaw County's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chickasaw County
Chickasaw 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 Chickasaw County.
Who works in Chickasaw County, and how
Work in Chickasaw County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Chickasaw County
Chickasaw County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chickasaw County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chickasaw County growing, and who is moving in?
Chickasaw County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Waterloo, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Chickasaw County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chickasaw County, month by month
Chickasaw County sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Chickasaw County
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chickasaw County
Schools across Chickasaw County average an A, better than 97% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Turkey Valley Elementary SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Nashua-plainfield Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Durant Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Hampton Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Sumner-fredericksburg Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Charles City MsA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- New Hampton High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Sumner-fredericksburg HsA · 70% proficient
- Nashua-plainfield Junior-seniorhigh SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chickasaw County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chickasaw 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 Chickasaw County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Chickasaw County
Is Chickasaw County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chickasaw County ranks 235th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and state finances, and lowest on internet speeds and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chickasaw County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,298. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $75,269 median income, cost of living beats 79% of counties.
Is Chickasaw County safe?
Yes, Chickasaw County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
Compare Chickasaw County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chickasaw County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chickasaw 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.
Chickasaw County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chickasaw County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chickasaw County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chickasaw County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chickasaw County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chickasaw 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.