Best PlacesMount Zion, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mount Zion, 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.
Mount Zion ranks 19,943rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mount Zion
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.
Mount Zion's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mount Zion ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
- QuietBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
Where Mount Zion ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$51,737 median, better than only 14% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mount Zion
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mount Zion home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,737, 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 Mount Zion's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Mount Zion
Mount Zion 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 Mount Zion.
Who works in Mount Zion, and how
Work in Mount Zion centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mount Zion
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mount Zion.
What the weather is like in Mount Zion, month by month
Mount Zion sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Mount Zion
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 163 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mount Zion
Schools across Mount Zion average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Van Buren County Community School District Douds CenterB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Van Buren County Community Middle & High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mount Zion school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mount Zion 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 Mount Zion against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mount Zion
Is Mount Zion a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mount Zion ranks 19,943rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low crime, and good schools, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mount Zion expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $107,133. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $51,737 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Mount Zion safe?
Yes, Mount Zion is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $178 per resident a year.
Compare Mount Zion with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mount Zion. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mount Zion 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.
Mount Zion detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mount Zion: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mount Zion: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mount Zion: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mount Zion: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mount Zion 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.