Best PlacesIndianola, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Indianola, 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.
Indianola ranks 2,460th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Indianola
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.
Indianola's strengths and weaknesses
Where Indianola ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
Where Indianola ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 29% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 31% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 43% of towns
- TransitBetter than only 44% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Indianola
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Indianola home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,425, 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 Indianola's effective rate of 1.47%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Indianola
Indianola runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Indianola.
Who works in Indianola, and how
Work in Indianola centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Indianola
Indianola has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns and more parkland per resident than 82% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Indianola and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Indianola, month by month
Indianola sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Indianola
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Indianola
Schools across Indianola average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Martensdale Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Irving Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Emerson Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indianola Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Norwalk Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Interstate 35 Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Norwalk Senior High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Southeast Warren Jr-sr High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Indianola High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Indianola school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Indianola 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 Indianola against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Indianola
Is Indianola a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Indianola ranks 2,460th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and good schools, 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 Indianola expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $257,814. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $84,425 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Indianola safe?
Yes, Indianola is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $174 per resident a year.
Compare Indianola with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Indianola. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Indianola 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.
Indianola detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Indianola: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Indianola: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Indianola: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Indianola: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Indianola 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.