Best PlacesFremont County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fremont County, 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.
Fremont County ranks 746th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fremont County
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.
Fremont County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fremont County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of counties
Where Fremont County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 20% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 21% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fremont County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fremont County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,466, 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 Fremont County's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fremont County
Fremont County 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 Fremont County.
Who works in Fremont County, and how
Work in Fremont County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Fremont County
Fremont County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of counties and more parkland per resident than 93% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fremont County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fremont County growing, and who is moving in?
Fremont County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Omaha, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fremont County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fremont County, month by month
Fremont County sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Fremont County
Eppley Airfield sits about 41 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Fremont County
Schools across Fremont County average an A−, better than 92% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fremont-mills Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Essex Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Shenandoah Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shenandoah Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Hamburg Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- East Mills Jr/sr High SchoolA · 77% proficient
- Fremont-mills Middle And Senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Essex Junior-senior High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fremont County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fremont County 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 Fremont County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Fremont County
Is Fremont County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fremont County ranks 746th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on the weather and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fremont County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,385. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $71,466 median income, cost of living beats 76% of counties.
Is Fremont County safe?
Yes, Fremont County is safer than 78% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
Compare Fremont County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fremont County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fremont County 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.
Fremont County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fremont County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fremont County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fremont County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fremont County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fremont County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.