Best PlacesMechanicsville, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mechanicsville, 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.
Mechanicsville ranks 13,203rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mechanicsville
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.
Mechanicsville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mechanicsville ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
Where Mechanicsville ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Short commute30.7 minutes each way, better than only 30% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mechanicsville
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mechanicsville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,439, 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 Mechanicsville's effective rate of 1.18%, 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 Mechanicsville
Mechanicsville 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 Mechanicsville.
Who works in Mechanicsville, and how
Work in Mechanicsville 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 79%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Mechanicsville
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mechanicsville.
What the weather is like in Mechanicsville, month by month
Mechanicsville sees roughly 104 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 | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Mechanicsville
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 172 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mechanicsville
Schools across Mechanicsville average an A−, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washington Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Lisbon Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Tipton Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Vernon Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Tipton Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Anamosa Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Mount Vernon High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Lisbon SecondaryA · 78% proficient
- Tipton High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mechanicsville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mechanicsville 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 Mechanicsville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mechanicsville
Is Mechanicsville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mechanicsville ranks 13,203rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and walkability, and lowest on noise and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mechanicsville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,325. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $83,439 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Mechanicsville safe?
Yes, Mechanicsville is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $220 per resident a year.
Compare Mechanicsville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mechanicsville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mechanicsville 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.
Mechanicsville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mechanicsville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mechanicsville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mechanicsville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mechanicsville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mechanicsville 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.