Best PlacesIowa County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Iowa County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Iowa County ranks 447th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Iowa County
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.
Iowa County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Iowa County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of counties
Where Iowa County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Iowa County
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iowa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,450, 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 Iowa County's effective rate of 1.19%, 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 Iowa County
Iowa County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Iowa County.
Who works in Iowa County, and how
Work in Iowa County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Iowa County
Iowa County has more parkland per resident than 95% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Iowa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Iowa County growing, and who is moving in?
Iowa County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cedar Rapids, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Iowa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Iowa County, month by month
Iowa County sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Iowa County
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 201 miles away.
The best schools in and around Iowa County
Schools across Iowa County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mary Welsh ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Iowa Valley Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Mid-prairie West Elem. SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clear Creek Amana Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Mid-prairie Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Norway Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Williamsburg Jr-sr High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Clear Creek Amana High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Iowa Valley Jr-sr High SchoolA · 74% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iowa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iowa County 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 Iowa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Iowa County
Is Iowa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iowa County ranks 447th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Iowa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,092. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $72,450 median income, cost of living beats 76% of counties.
Is Iowa County safe?
Yes, Iowa County is safer than 89% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
Compare Iowa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iowa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iowa County 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.
Iowa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iowa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iowa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iowa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iowa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iowa County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.