Best PlacesEast Amana, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Amana, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
East Amana ranks 3,725th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in East Amana
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.
East Amana's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Amana ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
- Short commute18.5 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of towns
Where East Amana ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Amana
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Amana home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $104,666, 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 East Amana's effective rate of 1.27%, 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 East Amana
East Amana's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for East Amana.
Who works in East Amana, and how
Work in East Amana centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in East Amana
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across East Amana.
What the weather is like in East Amana, month by month
East Amana sees roughly 110 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 | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of East Amana
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 202 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Amana
Schools across East Amana average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clear Creek Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Keystone Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Prairie Hill Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clear Creek Amana Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Norway Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Prairie CreekA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Clear Creek Amana High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Benton Community Senior High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Prairie High SchoolA · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Amana school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Amana 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 East Amana against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Amana
Is East Amana a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Amana ranks 3,725th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, health care access, and what local pay buys, and lowest on a weak job market and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Amana expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $355,577. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $104,666 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is East Amana safe?
Yes, East Amana is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $188 per resident a year.
Compare East Amana with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Amana. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Amana 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.
East Amana detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Amana: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Amana: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Amana: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Amana: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Amana 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.