Best PlacesGladbrook, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gladbrook, 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.
Gladbrook ranks 5,859th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gladbrook
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.
Gladbrook's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gladbrook ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where Gladbrook ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 29% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 30% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gladbrook
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gladbrook home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,106, 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 Gladbrook's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Gladbrook
Gladbrook 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 Gladbrook.
Who works in Gladbrook, and how
Work in Gladbrook centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gladbrook
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gladbrook.
What the weather is like in Gladbrook, month by month
Gladbrook sees roughly 109 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 Gladbrook
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 175 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gladbrook
Schools across Gladbrook average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Grundy Center Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Bcluw Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Gladbrook-reinbeck Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grundy Center Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Bcluw Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Grundy Center High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Gladbrook-reinbeck Jr. High & High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Gmg Secondary SchoolA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gladbrook school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gladbrook 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 Gladbrook against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gladbrook
Is Gladbrook a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gladbrook ranks 5,859th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on a weak job market and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gladbrook expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,949. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $78,106 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Gladbrook safe?
Yes, Gladbrook is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
Compare Gladbrook with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gladbrook. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gladbrook 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.
Gladbrook detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gladbrook: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gladbrook: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gladbrook: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gladbrook: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gladbrook 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.