Best PlacesKalona, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kalona, 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.
Kalona ranks 2,974th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kalona
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.
Kalona's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kalona ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of towns
Where Kalona ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 42% of towns
- TransitBetter than only 44% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kalona
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kalona home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,774, 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 Kalona's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 Kalona
Kalona'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 Kalona.
Who works in Kalona, and how
Work in Kalona centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Kalona
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kalona.
What the weather is like in Kalona, month by month
Kalona sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Kalona
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 199 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kalona
Schools across Kalona average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Weber ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Mid-prairie West Elem. SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Clear Creek Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clear Creek Amana Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Mid-prairie Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Highland Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Clear Creek Amana High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- West Senior High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Highland High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kalona school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kalona 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 Kalona against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kalona
Is Kalona a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kalona ranks 2,974th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, civic engagement, and good schools, and lowest on property taxes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kalona expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $287,127. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $87,774 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Kalona safe?
Yes, Kalona is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
Compare Kalona with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kalona. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kalona 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.
Kalona detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kalona: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kalona: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kalona: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kalona: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kalona 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.