Best PlacesCoulter, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Coulter, 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.
Coulter ranks 8,102nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Coulter
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.
Coulter's strengths and weaknesses
Where Coulter ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
Where Coulter ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Coulter
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Coulter home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,421, 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 Coulter's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Coulter
Coulter'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 Coulter.
Who works in Coulter, and how
Work in Coulter centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Coulter
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Coulter.
What the weather is like in Coulter, month by month
Coulter sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 11° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 63° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Coulter
The nearest airport, Mason City Municipal, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 149 miles away.
The best schools in and around Coulter
Schools across Coulter average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Side Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Clarion-goldfield-dows Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Cal Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clarion-goldfield-dows Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Hampton-dumont Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Iowa Falls - Alden High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Clarion-goldfield-dows High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Belmond-klemme Community Jr-sr High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Coulter school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Coulter 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 Coulter against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Coulter
Is Coulter a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Coulter ranks 8,102nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, state finances, and low crime, and lowest on tree cover and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Coulter expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,278. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $70,421 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Coulter safe?
Yes, Coulter is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $168 per resident a year.
Compare Coulter with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Coulter. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Coulter 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.
Coulter detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Coulter: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Coulter: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Coulter: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Coulter: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Coulter 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.