Best PlacesGladwin, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gladwin, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Gladwin ranks 7,387th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gladwin
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.
Gladwin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gladwin ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- Household income$103,581 median, better than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
Where Gladwin ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 25% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gladwin
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gladwin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $103,581, 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 Gladwin's effective rate of 1.08%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gladwin
Gladwin runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gladwin.
Who works in Gladwin, and how
Work in Gladwin centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Gladwin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gladwin.
What the weather is like in Gladwin, month by month
Gladwin sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Gladwin
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 188 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gladwin
Schools across Gladwin average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Roundy Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Highland Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Lone Tree Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Highland Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- West Liberty Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Columbus Community Junior High SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Highland High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- West Liberty High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Columbus Community High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gladwin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gladwin 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 Gladwin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gladwin
Is Gladwin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gladwin ranks 7,387th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, few empty homes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on biking and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gladwin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $309,462. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $103,581 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Gladwin safe?
Yes, Gladwin is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $225 per resident a year.
Compare Gladwin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gladwin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gladwin 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.
Gladwin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gladwin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gladwin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gladwin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gladwin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gladwin 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.