Best PlacesIowa County, WI 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. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Iowa County ranks 638th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
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
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Household income$84,270 median, better than 81% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 79% of counties
Where Iowa County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 28% of counties
- Short commute27.2 minutes each way, better than only 29% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Iowa County
A household needs to earn about $74,000 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 $84,270, 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 1.35%, 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 retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Iowa County
Iowa County has more parkland per resident than 94% 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 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Madison, WI metro.
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 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Iowa County
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Iowa County
Schools across Iowa County average a B−, better than 62% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Barneveld ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Westview ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Mineral Point ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mineral Point MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Mount Horeb MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Platteville MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Mineral Point HighC+ · 40% proficient
- River Valley HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Barneveld HighC+ · 38% 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.
Who Iowa County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 72% of counties, health care access beats 97%, and it is quieter than 65%.
Common questions about living in Iowa County
Is Iowa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iowa County ranks 638th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, cheap car insurance, and heat safety, and lowest on property taxes and cell coverage. 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 $261,811. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $84,270 median income, cost of living beats 78% of counties.
Is Iowa County safe?
Yes, Iowa County is safer than 75% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $274 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Iowa County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 16. That works out to about 116 pleasant days a year, more than 72% of counties.
Is Iowa County good for families?
Schools beat 62% of counties, crime safety beats 75%, and childcare runs $839 a month.
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.