Best PlacesLu Verne, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lu Verne, 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.
Lu Verne ranks 9,040th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lu Verne
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.
Lu Verne's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lu Verne ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute21.3 minutes each way, better than 83% of towns
Where Lu Verne ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lu Verne
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lu Verne home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,438, 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 Lu Verne'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 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 Lu Verne
Lu Verne'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 Lu Verne.
Who works in Lu Verne, and how
Work in Lu Verne centers on retail trade and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lu Verne
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lu Verne.
What the weather is like in Lu Verne, month by month
Lu Verne sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Lu Verne
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lu Verne
Schools across Lu Verne average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lucia Wallace Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Luverne Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Taft Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Humboldt Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Algona Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Humboldt High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Algona High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lu Verne school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lu Verne 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 Lu Verne against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lu Verne
Is Lu Verne a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lu Verne ranks 9,040th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, state finances, and good schools, and lowest on tree cover and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lu Verne expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,101. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $75,438 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Lu Verne safe?
Yes, Lu Verne is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
Compare Lu Verne with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lu Verne. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lu Verne 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.
Lu Verne detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lu Verne: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lu Verne: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lu Verne: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lu Verne: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lu Verne 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.