Best PlacesEmmetsburg, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Emmetsburg, 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.
Emmetsburg ranks 10,700th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Emmetsburg
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.
Emmetsburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Emmetsburg ranks high
- Short commute14.6 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
Where Emmetsburg ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of towns
- Household income$61,176 median, better than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Emmetsburg
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Emmetsburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,176, 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 Emmetsburg's effective rate of 1.18%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Emmetsburg
Emmetsburg'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 Emmetsburg.
Who works in Emmetsburg, and how
Work in Emmetsburg centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Emmetsburg
Emmetsburg has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Emmetsburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Emmetsburg, month by month
Emmetsburg sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Emmetsburg
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 140 miles away.
The best schools in and around Emmetsburg
Schools across Emmetsburg average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Bend-mallard Elementary SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- West Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Graettinger-terril Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Bend-mallard Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Emmetsburg Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Graettinger-terril Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- West Bend-mallard High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Emmetsburg High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Graettinger-terril High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Emmetsburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Emmetsburg 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 Emmetsburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Emmetsburg
Is Emmetsburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Emmetsburg ranks 10,700th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, civic engagement, and cell coverage, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Emmetsburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,268. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $61,176 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Emmetsburg safe?
Yes, Emmetsburg is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $247 per resident a year.
Compare Emmetsburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Emmetsburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Emmetsburg 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.
Emmetsburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Emmetsburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Emmetsburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Emmetsburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Emmetsburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Emmetsburg 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.