Best PlacesGarwin, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Garwin, 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.
Garwin ranks 9,762nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Garwin
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.
Garwin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Garwin ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 80% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 79% of towns
Where Garwin ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 31% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 35% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 40% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Garwin
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Garwin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,691, 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 Garwin's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Garwin
Garwin 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 Garwin.
Who works in Garwin, and how
Work in Garwin centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Garwin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Garwin.
What the weather is like in Garwin, month by month
Garwin sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 13° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Garwin
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 175 miles away.
The best schools in and around Garwin
Schools across Garwin average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gladbrook-reinbeck Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Gmg Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- South Tama County Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Tama County Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Gladbrook-reinbeck Jr. High & High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Gmg Secondary SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- South Tama County High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Garwin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Garwin 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 Garwin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Garwin
Is Garwin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Garwin ranks 9,762nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on tree cover 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 Garwin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $140,542. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $74,691 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Garwin safe?
Yes, Garwin is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
Compare Garwin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Garwin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Garwin 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.
Garwin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Garwin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Garwin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Garwin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Garwin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Garwin 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.