Best PlacesHenry County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Henry County, 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.
Henry County ranks 650th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Henry County
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.
Henry County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Henry County ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of counties
Where Henry County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 17% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 28% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 33% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Henry County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Henry County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,302, 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 Henry County's effective rate of 1.46%, 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 Henry County
Henry County'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 Henry County.
Who works in Henry County, and how
Work in Henry County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Henry County
Henry County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Henry County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Henry County growing, and who is moving in?
Henry County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cedar Rapids, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Henry County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Henry County, month by month
Henry County sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Henry County
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Henry County
Schools across Henry County average an A−, better than 93% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Salem Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Danville Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Pleasant Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Fort Madison Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Columbus Community Junior High SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Waco High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Mount Pleasant High SchoolA · 67% proficient
- New London Jr-sr High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Henry County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Henry County 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 Henry County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Henry County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 55% of counties and health care access beats 74%.
Common questions about living in Henry County
Is Henry County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Henry County ranks 650th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and state finances, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Henry County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $177,575. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $70,302 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Henry County safe?
Yes, Henry County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Henry County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 20. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of counties.
Is Henry County good for families?
Schools beat 93% of counties, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $675 a month.
Compare Henry County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Henry County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Henry County 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.
Henry County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Henry County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Henry County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Henry County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Henry County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Henry County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.