Best PlacesIowa Falls, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Iowa Falls, 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 Falls ranks 13,938th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Iowa Falls
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 Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Iowa Falls ranks high
- Short commute15.7 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
Where Iowa Falls ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Household income$58,010 median, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Iowa Falls
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iowa Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,010, 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 Falls' effective rate of 1.40%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Iowa Falls
Iowa Falls's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Falls.
Who works in Iowa Falls, and how
Work in Iowa Falls centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Iowa Falls
Iowa Falls has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns and more parkland per resident than 95% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Iowa Falls and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Iowa Falls, month by month
Iowa Falls sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 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° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Iowa Falls
The nearest airport, Mason City Municipal, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 159 miles away.
The best schools in and around Iowa Falls
Schools across Iowa Falls average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hubbard-radcliffe Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Rock Run ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- South Side Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Hardin Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Agwsr Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Riverbend Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Iowa Falls - Alden High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Agwsr High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- South Hardin High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iowa Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iowa Falls 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 Falls against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Iowa Falls
Is Iowa Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iowa Falls ranks 13,938th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and state finances, and lowest on property taxes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Iowa Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,468. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $58,010 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Iowa Falls safe?
Yes, Iowa Falls is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $275 per resident a year.
Compare Iowa Falls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iowa Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iowa Falls 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 Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iowa Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iowa Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iowa Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iowa Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iowa Falls 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.