Best PlacesHaverhill, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Haverhill, 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.
Haverhill ranks 8,622nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Haverhill
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.
Haverhill's strengths and weaknesses
Where Haverhill ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
Where Haverhill ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 31% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Haverhill
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Haverhill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,918, 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 Haverhill's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Haverhill
Haverhill 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 Haverhill.
Who works in Haverhill, and how
Work in Haverhill centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Haverhill
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Haverhill.
What the weather is like in Haverhill, month by month
Haverhill 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 Haverhill
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 158 miles away.
The best schools in and around Haverhill
Schools across Haverhill average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fisher Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- J C Hoglan Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- East Marshall Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Marshall Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Lenihan Intermediate SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- East Marshall Senior High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Marshalltown High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Haverhill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Haverhill 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 Haverhill against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Haverhill
Is Haverhill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Haverhill ranks 8,622nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, health care access, and few empty homes, and lowest on tree cover and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Haverhill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,342. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $83,918 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Haverhill safe?
Yes, Haverhill is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $266 per resident a year.
Compare Haverhill with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Haverhill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Haverhill 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.
Haverhill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Haverhill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Haverhill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Haverhill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Haverhill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Haverhill 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.