Best PlacesIron County, WI 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. 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.
Iron County ranks 1,937th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
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.
Iron County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Iron County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
Where Iron County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Iron County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iron County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,871, 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 Iron County's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 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 Iron County.
Who works in Iron County, and how
Work in Iron County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Iron County
Iron County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of counties and more parkland per resident than 95% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Iron County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Iron County growing, and who is moving in?
Iron County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Gogebic County, MI.
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 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 8° |
| April | 50° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 54° |
| October | 56° | 46° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Iron County
The nearest airport, Gogebic/Iron County, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 178 miles away.
The best schools in and around Iron County
Schools across Iron County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Glidden ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- North Lakeland ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Hurley ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chequamegon MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Bayfield MiddleD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Hurley HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Butternut HighC · 30% proficient
- Chequamegon HighD · 20% 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.
Common questions about living in Iron County
Is Iron County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iron County ranks 1,937th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and tree cover, and lowest on a weak job market and empty homes. 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 $188,985. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $58,871 median income, cost of living beats 24% of counties.
Is Iron County safe?
Iron County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $471 per resident a year.
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.