Best PlacesGifford, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gifford, 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.
Gifford ranks 9,852nd 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 Gifford
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.
Gifford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gifford ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Gifford ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 25% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gifford
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gifford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,021, 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 Gifford'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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gifford
Gifford runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gifford.
Who works in Gifford, and how
Work in Gifford centers on agriculture & forestry and real estate. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Gifford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gifford.
What the weather is like in Gifford, month by month
Gifford sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Gifford
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gifford
Schools across Gifford average an A, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hubbard-radcliffe Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Bcluw Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Eldora-new Providence Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Hardin Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Bcluw Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Riverbend Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Iowa Falls - Alden High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Bcluw High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- South Hardin High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gifford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gifford 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 Gifford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gifford
Is Gifford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gifford ranks 9,852nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, a stable housing market, and good schools, and lowest on tree cover and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gifford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,073. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $83,021 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Gifford safe?
Gifford is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $277 per resident a year.
Compare Gifford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gifford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gifford 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.
Gifford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gifford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gifford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gifford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gifford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gifford 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.