Best PlacesGrinnell, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grinnell, 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.
Grinnell ranks 6,163rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Grinnell
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.
Grinnell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grinnell ranks high
- Short commute14.1 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
Where Grinnell ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grinnell
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grinnell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,263, 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 Grinnell's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 Grinnell
Grinnell's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Grinnell.
Who works in Grinnell, and how
Work in Grinnell centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 22%
Life in Grinnell
Grinnell has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of towns and more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Grinnell and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Grinnell, month by month
Grinnell sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Grinnell
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 167 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grinnell
Schools across Grinnell average an A, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Davis Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Brooklyn-guernsey-malcom Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Montezuma Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lynnville-sully Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Grinnell Community Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Montezuma Junior High SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Grinnell Community Senior High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Lynnville-sully High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Montezuma High SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grinnell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grinnell 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 Grinnell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grinnell
Is Grinnell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grinnell ranks 6,163rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, biking, and walkability, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grinnell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,877. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $70,263 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Grinnell safe?
Yes, Grinnell is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $252 per resident a year.
Compare Grinnell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grinnell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grinnell 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.
Grinnell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grinnell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grinnell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grinnell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grinnell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grinnell 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.