Best PlacesHobarton, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hobarton, 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.
Hobarton ranks 2,853rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hobarton
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.
Hobarton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hobarton ranks high
- Short commute15.5 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
Where Hobarton ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hobarton
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hobarton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,722, 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 Hobarton's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Hobarton
Hobarton runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hobarton.
Who works in Hobarton, and how
Work in Hobarton centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hobarton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hobarton.
What the weather is like in Hobarton, month by month
Hobarton sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Hobarton
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hobarton
Schools across Hobarton average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Bend-mallard Elementary SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Lucia Wallace Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Algona Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- West Bend-mallard Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- West Bend-mallard High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Algona High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hobarton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hobarton 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 Hobarton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hobarton
Is Hobarton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hobarton ranks 2,853rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, a stable housing market, and good schools, and lowest on tree cover and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hobarton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $221,777. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $89,722 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Hobarton safe?
Yes, Hobarton is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $202 per resident a year.
Compare Hobarton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hobarton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hobarton 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.
Hobarton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hobarton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hobarton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hobarton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hobarton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hobarton 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.