Best PlacesDelaware County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Delaware County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Delaware County ranks 223rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Delaware 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.
Delaware County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Delaware County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of counties
Where Delaware County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 21% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 30% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Delaware County
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Delaware County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,626, 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 Delaware County's effective rate of 1.19%, 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 Delaware County
Delaware County 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 Delaware County.
Who works in Delaware County, and how
Work in Delaware County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Delaware County
Delaware County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 82% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Delaware County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Delaware County growing, and who is moving in?
Delaware County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cedar Rapids, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Delaware County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Delaware County, month by month
Delaware County sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Delaware County
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 180 miles away.
The best schools in and around Delaware County
Schools across Delaware County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cascade Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Delhi Elementary SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Dyersville Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Delaware Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Maquoketa Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Drexler Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Cascade Junior-senior High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Maquoketa Valley Senior High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Western Dubuque High SchoolA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Delaware County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Delaware 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 Delaware County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Delaware County
Is Delaware County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Delaware County ranks 223rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, low crime, and civic engagement, and lowest on property taxes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Delaware County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,902. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $79,626 median income, cost of living beats 79% of counties.
Is Delaware County safe?
Yes, Delaware County is safer than 98% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
Compare Delaware County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Delaware County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Delaware 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.
Delaware County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Delaware County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Delaware County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Delaware County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Delaware County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Delaware 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.