Best PlacesHarvard, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harvard, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Harvard ranks 21,126th 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 Harvard
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.
Harvard's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harvard ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 75% of towns
Where Harvard ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Harvard
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harvard home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,134, 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 Harvard's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Harvard
Harvard 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 Harvard.
Who works in Harvard, and how
Work in Harvard centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Harvard
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Harvard.
What the weather is like in Harvard, month by month
Harvard sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Harvard
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harvard
Schools across Harvard average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wayne Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Seymour Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Wayne Community Jr-sr High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Seymour High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harvard school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harvard 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 Harvard against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Harvard
Is Harvard a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harvard ranks 21,126th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low crime, and good schools, and lowest on biking and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harvard expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,480. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $67,134 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is Harvard safe?
Yes, Harvard is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
Compare Harvard with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harvard. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harvard 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.
Harvard detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harvard: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harvard: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harvard: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harvard: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harvard 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.