Best PlacesMacksburg, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Macksburg, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Macksburg ranks 3,641st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Macksburg
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.
Macksburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Macksburg ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- QuietBetter than 89% of towns
Where Macksburg ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- Short commute35.6 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 21% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Macksburg
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Macksburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $105,202, 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 Macksburg's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 Macksburg
Macksburg runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Macksburg.
Who works in Macksburg, and how
Work in Macksburg centers on manufacturing and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Macksburg
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Macksburg.
What the weather is like in Macksburg, month by month
Macksburg sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Macksburg
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Macksburg
Schools across Macksburg average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Union ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Winterset Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Orient Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winterset Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Creston Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Winterset Senior High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Creston High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Orient-macksburg Senior High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Macksburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Macksburg 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 Macksburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Macksburg
Is Macksburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Macksburg ranks 3,641st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, what local pay buys, and state finances, and lowest on the weather and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Macksburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $268,042. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $105,202 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Macksburg safe?
Yes, Macksburg is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $167 per resident a year.
Compare Macksburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Macksburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Macksburg 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.
Macksburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Macksburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Macksburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Macksburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Macksburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Macksburg 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.