Best PlacesJasper County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Jasper 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.
Jasper County ranks 490th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Jasper 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 Jasper County
The parts of Jasper 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.
Prairie City
Colfax
Monroe
It is quieter, though fewer households have young kids.
Newton
Incomes run lower and local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Jasper County run from about the 25th to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Jasper County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jasper County ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of counties
Where Jasper County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 31% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Jasper County
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jasper County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,774, 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 Jasper County's effective rate of 1.27%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Jasper County
Jasper County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Jasper County.
Who works in Jasper County, and how
Work in Jasper County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Jasper County
Jasper County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Jasper County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Jasper County growing, and who is moving in?
Jasper County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Des Moines, IA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Jasper County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Jasper County, month by month
Jasper County sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 22° | 15° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Jasper County
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 148 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jasper County
Schools across Jasper County average an A−, better than 93% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mitchellville ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Runnells ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pella Middle SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Spring Creek - 6th GradeA+ · 79% proficient
- Lynnville-sully Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Pella High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Grinnell Community Senior High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Bondurant-farrar High SchoolA · 76% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jasper County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jasper 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 Jasper County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Jasper County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 58% of counties and health care access beats 79%.
Common questions about living in Jasper County
Is Jasper County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jasper County ranks 490th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and what local pay buys, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jasper County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,335. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $75,774 median income, cost of living beats 90% of counties.
Is Jasper County safe?
Yes, Jasper County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Jasper County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 15. That works out to about 97 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Jasper County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Prairie City, Colfax, and Monroe. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Jasper County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jasper County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jasper 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.
Jasper County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jasper County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jasper County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jasper County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jasper County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jasper 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.