Best PlacesGilmore City, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gilmore City, 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.
Gilmore City ranks 16,193rd 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 Gilmore City
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.
Gilmore City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gilmore City ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
Where Gilmore City ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gilmore City
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gilmore City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,374, 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 Gilmore City's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 Gilmore City
Gilmore City 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 Gilmore City.
Who works in Gilmore City, and how
Work in Gilmore City centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gilmore City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gilmore City.
What the weather is like in Gilmore City, month by month
Gilmore City sees roughly 110 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 Gilmore City
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gilmore City
Schools across Gilmore City average an A−, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Taft Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Pocahontas Area Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Manson Northwest Webster ElementaryA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Humboldt Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- West Bend-mallard High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Humboldt High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Pocahontas Area Middle/ High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gilmore City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gilmore City 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 Gilmore City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gilmore City
Is Gilmore City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gilmore City ranks 16,193rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on tree cover and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gilmore City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $93,716. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $60,374 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Gilmore City safe?
Yes, Gilmore City is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
Compare Gilmore City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gilmore City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gilmore City 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.
Gilmore City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gilmore City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gilmore City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gilmore City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gilmore City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gilmore City 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.