Best PlacesDecatur City, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Decatur City, 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.
Decatur City ranks 33,475th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Decatur City
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.
Decatur City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Decatur City ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 85% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 75% of towns
Where Decatur City ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- Household income$52,481 median, better than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 18% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Decatur City
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Decatur City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,481, 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 Decatur City's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Decatur City
Decatur City'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 Decatur City.
Who works in Decatur City, and how
Work in Decatur City centers on education and other services. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Decatur City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Decatur City.
What the weather is like in Decatur City, month by month
Decatur City sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Decatur City
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Decatur City
Schools across Decatur City average an A−, better than 85% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Lamoni Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lamoni Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Decatur Ms/hs High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Lamoni High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Decatur City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Decatur City 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 Decatur City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Decatur City
Is Decatur City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Decatur City ranks 33,475th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, a stable housing market, and good schools, and lowest on property taxes and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Decatur City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,451. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $52,481 median income, cost of living beats 18% of towns.
Is Decatur City safe?
Decatur City is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $326 per resident a year.
Compare Decatur City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Decatur City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Decatur City 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.
Decatur City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Decatur City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Decatur City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Decatur City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Decatur City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Decatur City 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.