Best PlacesElberon, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elberon, 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.
Elberon ranks 24,300th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elberon
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.
Elberon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elberon ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 84% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 77% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 75% of towns
Where Elberon ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of towns
- Short commute32.5 minutes each way, better than only 22% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elberon
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elberon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,653, 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 Elberon's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elberon
Elberon 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 Elberon.
Who works in Elberon, and how
Work in Elberon centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Elberon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elberon.
What the weather is like in Elberon, month by month
Elberon sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Elberon
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 191 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elberon
Schools across Elberon average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dysart-geneseo Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Keystone Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Longfellow Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Union Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Norway Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- South Tama County Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Union High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Benton Community Senior High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Belle Plaine Jr/sr High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elberon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elberon 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 Elberon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elberon
Is Elberon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elberon ranks 24,300th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on internet speeds and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elberon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,721. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $66,653 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Elberon safe?
Yes, Elberon is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $269 per resident a year.
Compare Elberon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elberon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elberon 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.
Elberon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elberon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elberon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elberon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elberon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elberon 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.