Best PlacesClarke County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clarke 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.
Clarke County ranks 1,264th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clarke 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.
Clarke County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clarke County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 81% of counties
Where Clarke County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 30% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clarke County
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clarke County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,426, 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 Clarke County's 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clarke County
Clarke County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clarke County.
Who works in Clarke County, and how
Work in Clarke County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Clarke County
Clarke County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Clarke County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clarke County growing, and who is moving in?
Clarke County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Des Moines, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clarke County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clarke County, month by month
Clarke County sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Clarke County
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clarke County
Schools across Clarke County average a B+, better than 81% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- East Union ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Interstate 35 Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Mormon Trail Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Interstate 35 Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Clarke Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Clarke Community High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Murray Jr/sr HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Mormon Trail Jr-sr High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clarke County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clarke 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 Clarke County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Clarke County
Is Clarke County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clarke County ranks 1,264th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, state finances, and low crime, and lowest on noise and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clarke County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,889. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $77,426 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Clarke County safe?
Yes, Clarke County is safer than 84% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $251 per resident a year.
Compare Clarke County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clarke County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clarke 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.
Clarke County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clarke County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clarke County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clarke County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clarke County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clarke 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.