Best PlacesMurray, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Murray, 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.
Murray ranks 14,230th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Murray
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.
Murray's strengths and weaknesses
Where Murray ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 80% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 77% of towns
Where Murray ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Murray
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Murray home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,665, 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 Murray's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 Murray
Murray runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Murray.
Who works in Murray, and how
Work in Murray centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Murray
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Murray.
What the weather is like in Murray, month by month
Murray sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Murray
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Murray
Schools across Murray average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Ayr ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- East Union ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- North Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Interstate 35 Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Creston Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Clarke Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Mount Ayr High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Creston High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Central Decatur Ms/hs High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Murray school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Murray 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 Murray against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Murray
Is Murray a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Murray ranks 14,230th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Murray expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,686. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $80,665 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Murray safe?
Yes, Murray is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $139 per resident a year.
Compare Murray with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Murray. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Murray 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.
Murray detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Murray: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Murray: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Murray: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Murray: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Murray 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.