Best PlacesLarchwood, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Larchwood, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Larchwood ranks 1,626th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Larchwood
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.
Larchwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Larchwood ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of towns
Where Larchwood ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 39% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 43% of towns
- TransitBetter than only 44% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Larchwood
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Larchwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,111, 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 Larchwood's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Larchwood
Larchwood runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Larchwood.
Who works in Larchwood, and how
Work in Larchwood centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Larchwood
Larchwood has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Larchwood and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Larchwood, month by month
Larchwood sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 60° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Larchwood
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Larchwood
Schools across Larchwood average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Larchwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Larchwood 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 Larchwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Larchwood
Is Larchwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Larchwood ranks 1,626th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and cell coverage, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Larchwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $272,658. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $88,111 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Larchwood safe?
Yes, Larchwood is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $166 per resident a year.
Compare Larchwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Larchwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Larchwood 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.
Larchwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Larchwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Larchwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Larchwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Larchwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Larchwood 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.