Best PlacesHale, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hale, 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.
Hale ranks 9,941st 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 Hale
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.
Hale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hale ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where Hale ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hale
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,312, 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 Hale's effective rate of 1.42%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hale
Hale runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hale.
Who works in Hale, and how
Work in Hale centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Hale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hale.
What the weather is like in Hale, month by month
Hale sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 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 | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Hale
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 161 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hale
Schools across Hale average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Midland ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Strawberry HillA− · 58% proficient
- Olin Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tipton Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Anamosa Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Tipton High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Monticello High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- North Cedar Jr/sr High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hale 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 Hale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hale
Is Hale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hale ranks 9,941st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and good schools, and lowest on biking and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $131,370. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $72,312 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Hale safe?
Yes, Hale is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $215 per resident a year.
Compare Hale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hale 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.
Hale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hale 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.