Best PlacesDallas Center, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dallas Center, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dallas Center ranks 784th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dallas Center
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.
Dallas Center's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dallas Center ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$115,160 median, better than 92% of towns
Where Dallas Center ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 41% of towns
- TransitBetter than only 44% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 45% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dallas Center
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dallas Center home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $115,160, 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 Dallas Center's effective rate of 1.27%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dallas Center
Dallas Center runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dallas Center.
Who works in Dallas Center, and how
Work in Dallas Center centers on finance & insurance and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dallas Center
Dallas Center has more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Dallas Center and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dallas Center, month by month
Dallas Center sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 22° | 13° |
| April | 64° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Dallas Center
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 104 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dallas Center
Schools across Dallas Center average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Ridge ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Walnut Hills Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Dallas Center ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waukee Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Woodward-granger Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Dallas Center-grimes Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top high schools
- Adm Senior High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Woodward-granger High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Dallas Center-grimes High SchoolA · 77% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dallas Center school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dallas Center 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 Dallas Center against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dallas Center
Is Dallas Center a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dallas Center ranks 784th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, good schools, and what local pay buys, and lowest on property taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dallas Center expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $303,924. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $115,160 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Dallas Center safe?
Yes, Dallas Center is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $180 per resident a year.
Compare Dallas Center with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dallas Center. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dallas Center 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.
Dallas Center detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dallas Center: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dallas Center: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dallas Center: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dallas Center: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dallas Center 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.