Best PlacesLast Chance, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Last Chance, 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.
Last Chance ranks 19,242nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Last Chance
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.
Last Chance's strengths and weaknesses
Where Last Chance ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 78% of towns
Where Last Chance ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Short commute33.9 minutes each way, better than only 17% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Last Chance
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Last Chance home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,144, 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 Last Chance's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Last Chance
Last Chance 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 Last Chance.
Who works in Last Chance, and how
Work in Last Chance centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Last Chance
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Last Chance.
What the weather is like in Last Chance, month by month
Last Chance sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 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 | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Last Chance
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around Last Chance
Schools across Last Chance average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mormon Trail Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Van Allen Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Clarke Community Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chariton Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Clarke Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Chariton High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Clarke Community High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Mormon Trail Jr-sr High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Last Chance school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Last Chance 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 Last Chance against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Last Chance
Is Last Chance a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Last Chance ranks 19,242nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on biking and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Last Chance expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,840. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $79,144 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Last Chance safe?
Yes, Last Chance is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $217 per resident a year.
Compare Last Chance with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Last Chance. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Last Chance 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.
Last Chance detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Last Chance: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Last Chance: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Last Chance: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Last Chance: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Last Chance 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.