Best PlacesHiteman, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hiteman, 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.
Hiteman ranks 18,293rd 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 Hiteman
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.
Hiteman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hiteman ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 80% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 78% of towns
Where Hiteman ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hiteman
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hiteman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,017, 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 Hiteman's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 Hiteman
Hiteman runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hiteman.
Who works in Hiteman, and how
Work in Hiteman centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Hiteman
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hiteman.
What the weather is like in Hiteman, month by month
Hiteman sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Hiteman
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 156 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hiteman
Schools across Hiteman average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Albia Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Albia High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hiteman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hiteman 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 Hiteman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hiteman
Is Hiteman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hiteman ranks 18,293rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on biking 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 Hiteman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,915. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $77,017 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Hiteman safe?
Yes, Hiteman is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
Compare Hiteman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hiteman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hiteman 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.
Hiteman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hiteman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hiteman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hiteman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hiteman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hiteman 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.