Best PlacesDallas County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dallas County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dallas County ranks 7th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dallas 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.
The best areas in Dallas County
The parts of Dallas County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Van Meter
Crime runs lower, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Waukee, Urbandale & Clive
More adults hold degrees, though homes cost more.
West Des Moines
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Adel
Fewer households have young kids and health outcomes score lower.
Perry
Schools score lower and more homes sit empty.
Scores across Dallas County run from about the 38th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Dallas County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dallas County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 97% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of counties
Where Dallas County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 14% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of counties
- Cheap childcare$812 a month, better than only 41% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 43% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dallas County
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dallas County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $115,358, 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 County's effective rate of 1.40%, 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 County
Dallas County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dallas County.
Who works in Dallas County, and how
Work in Dallas County centers on finance & insurance and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dallas County
Dallas County has more parkland per resident than 72% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 82% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dallas County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dallas County growing, and who is moving in?
Dallas County has grown about 48% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Des Moines, IA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dallas County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dallas County, month by month
Dallas County sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Dallas County
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dallas County
Schools across Dallas County average an A+, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shuler Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- North Ridge ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Walnut Hills Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top middle schools
- Van Meter Middle SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Waukee Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Dc-g Oak ViewA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Van Meter High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Adm Senior High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Woodward-granger High SchoolA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dallas County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dallas 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 Dallas County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dallas County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 100% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dallas County
Is Dallas County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dallas County ranks 7th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, good schools, and population health, 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 Dallas County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $360,717. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $115,358 median income, cost of living beats 100% of counties.
Is Dallas County safe?
Yes, Dallas County is safer than 95% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $212 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dallas County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 15. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 46% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dallas County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Van Meter, Waukee, Urbandale & Clive, and West Des Moines. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Dallas County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dallas County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dallas 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.
Dallas County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dallas County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dallas County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dallas County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dallas County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dallas 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.