Best PlacesMonona County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Monona County, 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.
Monona County ranks 960th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Monona County
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.
Monona County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monona County ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of counties
Where Monona County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 30% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 34% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 37% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Monona County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monona County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,212, 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 Monona County's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Monona County
Monona County 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 Monona County.
Who works in Monona County, and how
Work in Monona County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Monona County
Monona County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of counties and more parkland per resident than 85% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Monona County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Monona County growing, and who is moving in?
Monona County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux City, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Monona County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Monona County, month by month
Monona County sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Monona County
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monona County
Schools across Monona County average an A−, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Boyer Valley Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Westwood Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- West Monona ElementaryA− · 60% 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
- Woodbine High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- West Monona High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monona County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monona County 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 Monona County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Monona County
Is Monona County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monona County ranks 960th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and civic engagement, and lowest on property taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monona County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,643. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $68,212 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Monona County safe?
Monona County is safer than 53% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $306 per resident a year.
Compare Monona County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monona County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monona County 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.
Monona County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monona County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monona County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monona County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monona County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monona County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.