Best PlacesIron County, UT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Iron County, 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.
Iron County ranks 827th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Iron 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.
The best areas in Iron County
The parts of Iron County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Cedar City
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Enoch
More households have young kids, though biking is worse.
Parowan
More homes sit empty and crime runs higher.
Iron County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 11% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Iron County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Iron County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 156 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of counties
Where Iron County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 19% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Iron County
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iron County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,635, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Iron County's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 Iron County
Iron County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Iron County.
Who works in Iron County, and how
Work in Iron County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Iron County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Iron County.
Is Iron County growing, and who is moving in?
Iron County has grown about 40% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from St George, UT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Iron County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Iron County, month by month
Iron County sees roughly 156 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 30° | 18° |
| April | 67° | 50° | 32° |
| July | 94° | 77° | 58° |
| October | 70° | 52° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Iron County
The nearest airport, Cedar City Regional, is about 1 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Harry Reid International, about 161 miles away.
The best schools in and around Iron County
Schools across Iron County average a B−, better than 60% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Belknap SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Iron Springs SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Three Peaks SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Minersville SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Cedar MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Canyon View MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Success SuuA · 70% proficient
- Enterprise HighB− · 41% proficient
- Launch HighB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iron County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iron 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 Iron County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Iron County suits
Common questions about living in Iron County
Is Iron County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iron County ranks 827th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, heat safety, and cell coverage, and lowest on an overheated housing market and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Iron County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $382,042. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $69,635 median income, cost of living beats 42% of counties.
Is Iron County safe?
Yes, Iron County is safer than 92% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $280 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Iron County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 18. That works out to about 156 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Iron County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cedar City, Enoch, and Parowan. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Iron County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iron County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iron 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.
Iron County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iron County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iron County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iron County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iron County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iron 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.