Best PlacesDubuque County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dubuque 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.
Dubuque County ranks 117th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dubuque 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 Dubuque County
The parts of Dubuque 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.
Peosta
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more households have young kids.
Asbury
More residents vote, though homes cost more.
Epworth, Cascade & Farley
Biking is worse and tree cover is thinner.
Dyersville
Schools score higher, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Dubuque
Crime runs higher and health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Dubuque County run from about the 19th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Dubuque County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dubuque County ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 95% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of counties
- TransitBetter than 92% of counties
- Short commute16.7 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
Where Dubuque County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 32% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 38% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dubuque County
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dubuque County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,868, 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 Dubuque County's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dubuque County
Dubuque County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Dubuque County.
Who works in Dubuque County, and how
Work in Dubuque County 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 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Dubuque County
Dubuque County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of counties and more parkland per resident than 91% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dubuque County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dubuque County growing, and who is moving in?
Dubuque County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dubuque County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dubuque County, month by month
Dubuque County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 21° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Dubuque County
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 149 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dubuque County
Schools across Dubuque County average an A−, better than 95% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cascade Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Peosta Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Epworth Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Drexler Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Eleanor Roosevelt Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Monticello Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Cascade Junior-senior High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Western Dubuque High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Dubuque Senior High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dubuque County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dubuque 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 Dubuque County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dubuque County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dubuque County
Is Dubuque County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dubuque County ranks 117th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, few empty homes, and transit, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dubuque County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,931. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $83,868 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Dubuque County safe?
Yes, Dubuque County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dubuque County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 12. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dubuque County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Peosta, Asbury, and Epworth, Cascade & Farley. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Dubuque County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dubuque County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dubuque 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.
Dubuque County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dubuque County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dubuque County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dubuque County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dubuque County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dubuque 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.