Best PlacesCresco, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cresco, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cresco ranks 9,722nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cresco
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.
Cresco's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cresco ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute18.8 minutes each way, better than 91% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
Where Cresco ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 23% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 34% of towns
- Household income$64,217 median, better than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cresco
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cresco home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,217, 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 Cresco's effective rate of 1.43%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cresco
Cresco 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 Cresco.
Who works in Cresco, and how
Work in Cresco centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Cresco
Cresco has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns and more parkland per resident than 95% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cresco and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cresco, month by month
Cresco sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Cresco
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cresco
Schools across Cresco average a B+, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Crestwood Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Mabel-canton ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Crestwood High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Mabel-canton SecondaryA− · 62% proficient
- Fillmore Central Senior HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cresco school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cresco 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 Cresco against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cresco
Is Cresco a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cresco ranks 9,722nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, civic engagement, and state finances, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cresco expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $139,358. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $64,217 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Cresco safe?
Cresco is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
Compare Cresco with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cresco. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cresco 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.
Cresco detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cresco: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cresco: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cresco: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cresco: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cresco 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.