Best Neighborhoods in Fort Dodge, IA
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fort Dodge, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fort Dodge ranks 1,160th of 2,098 U.S. small cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
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Map of the best neighborhoods in Fort Dodge
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.
Fort Dodge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fort Dodge ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of small cities
- Short commute18.7 minutes each way, better than 92% of small cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 74% of small cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of small cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of small cities
Where Fort Dodge ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of small cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of small cities
- Household income$65,806 median, better than only 16% of small cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 31% of small cities
- Local economyBetter than only 28% of small cities
What it costs to buy a home in Fort Dodge
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fort Dodge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,806, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.7% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-08-20 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 Fort Dodge's effective rate of 1.56%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge'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 Fort Dodge.
Who works in Fort Dodge, and how
Work in Fort Dodge centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of small cities and more parkland per resident than 94% of small cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fort Dodge and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fort Dodge, month by month
Fort Dodge sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 20° | 11° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Fort Dodge
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fort Dodge
Schools across Fort Dodge average a B, better than 60% of small cities.
Top elementary schools
- St Paul Lutheran SchoolA− · 83% proficient
- Dayton CenterC · 72% proficient
- Manson Northwest Webster ElementaryC · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southeast Webster-grand Southeast Valley MiddleC · 74% proficient
- Fort Dodge Middle SchoolD− · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Manson Northwest Webster Junior High/high SchoolD− · 59% proficient
- Fort Dodge High SchoolD− · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fort Dodge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fort Dodge 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 Fort Dodge against the other 2,097 small cities.
Who Fort Dodge suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 5% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Fort Dodge
Is Fort Dodge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fort Dodge ranks 1,160th of 2,098 small cities. It scores highest on a stable housing market, short commutes, and low crime, and lowest on air quality and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fort Dodge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,738. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $65,806 median income, cost of living beats 31% of small cities.
Is Fort Dodge safe?
Yes, Fort Dodge is safer than 74% of small cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fort Dodge?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 31 with lows near 11. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of small cities.
Is Fort Dodge good for families?
Schools beat 60% of small cities, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $681 a month.
Compare Fort Dodge with other small cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fort Dodge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fort Dodge 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.
Fort Dodge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fort Dodge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fort Dodge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fort Dodge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fort Dodge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fort Dodge 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.