Best PlacesInwood, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Inwood, 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.
Inwood ranks 2,049th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Inwood
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.
Inwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Inwood ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
Where Inwood ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 39% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 39% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 40% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Inwood
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Inwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,603, 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 Inwood's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 Inwood
Inwood runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Inwood.
Who works in Inwood, and how
Work in Inwood centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Inwood
Inwood has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Inwood and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Inwood, month by month
Inwood sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 60° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Inwood
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 141 miles away.
The best schools in and around Inwood
Schools across Inwood average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Rock Valley Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Rock Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- West Sioux High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Inwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Inwood 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 Inwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Inwood
Is Inwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Inwood ranks 2,049th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, civic engagement, and good schools, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Inwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $262,782. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $82,603 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Inwood safe?
Yes, Inwood is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $196 per resident a year.
Compare Inwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Inwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Inwood 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.
Inwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Inwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Inwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Inwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Inwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Inwood 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.