Best PlacesMarion, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Marion, 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.
Marion ranks 305th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Marion
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.
Marion's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marion ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 93% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of cities
Where Marion ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 38% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Marion
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marion home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,609, 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 Marion's effective rate of 1.55%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Marion
Marion'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 Marion.
Who works in Marion, and how
Work in Marion centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Marion
Marion has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Marion and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Marion, month by month
Marion sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Marion
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marion
Schools across Marion average an A, better than 93% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Indian Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Echo Hill ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Washington Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Vernon Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Hazel Point Intermediate SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Oak Ridge SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Mount Vernon High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Linn-mar High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Marion High SchoolA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marion school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marion 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 Marion against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Marion suits
Retirees
The weather beats 66% of cities and health care access beats 85%.
Common questions about living in Marion
Is Marion a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marion ranks 305th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, low crime, and good schools, and lowest on internet speeds 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 Marion expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,833. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $93,609 median income, cost of living beats 67% of cities.
Is Marion safe?
Yes, Marion is safer than 95% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Marion?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 14. That works out to about 111 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of cities.
Is Marion good for families?
Schools beat 93% of cities, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $727 a month.
Compare Marion with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marion. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marion 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.
Marion detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marion: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marion: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marion: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marion: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marion 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.