Best PlacesEldon, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Eldon, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Eldon ranks 22,242nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Eldon
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.
Eldon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Eldon ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 79% of towns
Where Eldon ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of towns
- Household income$62,252 median, better than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Eldon
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Eldon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,252, 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 Eldon's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 Eldon
Eldon'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 Eldon.
Who works in Eldon, and how
Work in Eldon centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Eldon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Eldon.
What the weather is like in Eldon, month by month
Eldon sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Eldon
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 173 miles away.
The best schools in and around Eldon
Schools across Eldon average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cardinal ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Davis County ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Van Buren County Community School District Douds CenterB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Davis County Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Cardinal Junior HighA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Davis County Community High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Cardinal High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Eldon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Eldon 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 Eldon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Eldon
Is Eldon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Eldon ranks 22,242nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and civic engagement, and lowest on education levels and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Eldon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $105,395. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $62,252 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Eldon safe?
Eldon is safer than 44% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $321 per resident a year.
Compare Eldon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Eldon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Eldon 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.
Eldon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Eldon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Eldon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Eldon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Eldon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Eldon 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.