Best PlacesHoly Cross, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Holy Cross, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Holy Cross ranks 3,292nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Holy Cross
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.
Holy Cross' strengths and weaknesses
Where Holy Cross ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 83% of towns
Where Holy Cross ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 32% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 32% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 34% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Holy Cross
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Holy Cross home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,241, 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 Holy Cross' effective rate of 0.92%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Holy Cross
Holy Cross's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Holy Cross.
Who works in Holy Cross, and how
Work in Holy Cross centers on health care & social 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 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Holy Cross
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Holy Cross.
What the weather is like in Holy Cross, month by month
Holy Cross sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 21° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Holy Cross
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 158 miles away.
The best schools in and around Holy Cross
Schools across Holy Cross average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clayton Ridge Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Epworth Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- John Kennedy Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Drexler Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Eleanor Roosevelt Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Clayton Ridge Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Western Dubuque High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Clayton Ridge High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Hempstead High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Holy Cross school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Holy Cross 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 Holy Cross against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Holy Cross
Is Holy Cross a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Holy Cross ranks 3,292nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, good schools, and low crime, and lowest on tree cover and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Holy Cross expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $254,690. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $84,241 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Holy Cross safe?
Yes, Holy Cross is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $144 per resident a year.
Compare Holy Cross with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Holy Cross. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Holy Cross 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.
Holy Cross detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Holy Cross: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Holy Cross: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Holy Cross: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Holy Cross: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Holy Cross 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.