Best PlacesLamoni, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lamoni, 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.
Lamoni ranks 21,569th 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 Lamoni
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.
Lamoni's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lamoni ranks high
- Short commute14.5 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of towns
Where Lamoni ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Household income$56,443 median, better than only 21% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lamoni
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lamoni home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,443, 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 Lamoni's effective rate of 1.48%, 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 Lamoni
Lamoni runs younger 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 Lamoni.
Who works in Lamoni, and how
Work in Lamoni centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Lamoni
Lamoni has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Lamoni and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lamoni, month by month
Lamoni sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Lamoni
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lamoni
Schools across Lamoni average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Ayr ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- North Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Lamoni Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lamoni Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Mount Ayr High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Central Decatur Ms/hs High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Lamoni High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lamoni school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lamoni 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 Lamoni against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lamoni
Is Lamoni a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lamoni ranks 21,569th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and biking, and lowest on property taxes and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lamoni expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $114,833. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $56,443 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Lamoni safe?
Lamoni is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $539 per resident a year.
Compare Lamoni with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lamoni. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lamoni 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.
Lamoni detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lamoni: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lamoni: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lamoni: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lamoni: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lamoni 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.