Best PlacesCouncil Bluffs, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Council Bluffs, 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.
Council Bluffs ranks 912th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Council Bluffs
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.
Council Bluffs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Council Bluffs ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of cities
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of cities
- Cheap childcare$737 a month, better than 87% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 80% of cities
Where Council Bluffs ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 19% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Council Bluffs
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Council Bluffs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,230, 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 Council Bluffs' effective rate of 1.49%, 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 Council Bluffs
Council Bluffs's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Council Bluffs.
Who works in Council Bluffs, and how
Work in Council Bluffs centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Council Bluffs
Council Bluffs has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Council Bluffs and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Council Bluffs, month by month
Council Bluffs sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 15° |
| April | 68° | 52° | 39° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Council Bluffs
Eppley Airfield sits about 4 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Council Bluffs
Schools across Council Bluffs average a B+, better than 77% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Treynor Elementary SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- West Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Underwood Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Treynor Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Underwood Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Glenwood Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- Treynor High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Underwood High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Riverside Community High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Council Bluffs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Council Bluffs 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 Council Bluffs against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Council Bluffs suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Council Bluffs
Is Council Bluffs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Council Bluffs ranks 912th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on noise and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Council Bluffs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,331. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $75,230 median income, cost of living beats 49% of cities.
Is Council Bluffs safe?
Yes, Council Bluffs is safer than 79% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Council Bluffs?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 15. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of cities.
Is Council Bluffs good for families?
Schools beat 77% of cities, crime safety beats 79%, and childcare runs $737 a month.
Compare Council Bluffs with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Council Bluffs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Council Bluffs 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.
Council Bluffs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Council Bluffs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Council Bluffs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Council Bluffs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Council Bluffs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Council Bluffs 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.