Best PlacesDunkerton, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dunkerton, 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.
Dunkerton ranks 4,495th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dunkerton
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.
Dunkerton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dunkerton ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of towns
Where Dunkerton ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 31% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 38% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dunkerton
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dunkerton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,078, 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 Dunkerton's effective rate of 1.09%, 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 Dunkerton
Dunkerton'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 Dunkerton.
Who works in Dunkerton, and how
Work in Dunkerton centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dunkerton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dunkerton.
What the weather is like in Dunkerton, month by month
Dunkerton sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Dunkerton
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dunkerton
Schools across Dunkerton average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- K-5 Elementary School Lincoln Street BuildingA+ · 81% proficient
- Jesup Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Dunkerton ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Denver Middle SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Jesup Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Denver Senior High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Wapsie Valley High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Jesup High SchoolA · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dunkerton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dunkerton 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 Dunkerton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dunkerton
Is Dunkerton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dunkerton ranks 4,495th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low crime, and civic engagement, and lowest on tree cover and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dunkerton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $206,633. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $88,078 median income, cost of living beats 86% of towns.
Is Dunkerton safe?
Yes, Dunkerton is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $160 per resident a year.
Compare Dunkerton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dunkerton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dunkerton 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.
Dunkerton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dunkerton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dunkerton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dunkerton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dunkerton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dunkerton 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.