Best PlacesMapleton, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mapleton, 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.
Mapleton ranks 13,463rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mapleton
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.
Mapleton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mapleton ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Mapleton ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of towns
- Household income$58,356 median, better than only 24% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 32% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mapleton
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mapleton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,356, 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 Mapleton's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Mapleton
Mapleton 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 Mapleton.
Who works in Mapleton, and how
Work in Mapleton centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mapleton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mapleton.
What the weather is like in Mapleton, month by month
Mapleton sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Mapleton
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mapleton
Schools across Mapleton average an A−, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Westwood Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Schleswig Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Mapleton Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mvao Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- West Monona Middle SchA · 60% proficient
- Charter Oak-ute Junior High SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Westwood High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Denison High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Maple Valley-anthon Oto High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mapleton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mapleton 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 Mapleton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mapleton
Is Mapleton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mapleton ranks 13,463rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, state finances, and biking, and lowest on tree cover and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mapleton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,033. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $58,356 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Mapleton safe?
Mapleton is safer than 43% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $316 per resident a year.
Compare Mapleton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mapleton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mapleton 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.
Mapleton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mapleton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mapleton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mapleton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mapleton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mapleton 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.