Best PlacesMuscatine County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Muscatine County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Muscatine County ranks 372nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Muscatine 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.
The best areas in Muscatine County
The parts of Muscatine County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Wilton
Local pay stretches further, more residents vote, and fewer homes sit empty.
West Liberty
Incomes run higher and it is quieter.
Muscatine
Biking is better, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Muscatine County run from about the 32nd to the 92nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Muscatine County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Muscatine County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of counties
- TransitBetter than 88% of counties
- BikingBetter than 87% of counties
Where Muscatine County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 13% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 39% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 43% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Muscatine County
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Muscatine County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,848, 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 Muscatine County's effective rate of 1.40%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Muscatine County
Muscatine County'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 Muscatine County.
Who works in Muscatine County, and how
Work in Muscatine County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Muscatine County
Muscatine County has more parkland per resident than 96% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Muscatine County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Muscatine County growing, and who is moving in?
Muscatine County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cedar County, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Muscatine County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Muscatine County, month by month
Muscatine County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Muscatine County
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 167 miles away.
The best schools in and around Muscatine County
Schools across Muscatine County average a B+, better than 86% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Blue Grass Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Louisa-muscatine ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Durant Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Liberty Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Walcott IntermediateA− · 57% proficient
- Columbus Community Junior High SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilton Jr-sr High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Louisa-muscatine Jr/sr High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Durant Junior/senior High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Muscatine County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Muscatine 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 Muscatine County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Muscatine County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Muscatine County
Is Muscatine County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Muscatine County ranks 372nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, state finances, and few empty homes, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Muscatine County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,749. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $73,848 median income, cost of living beats 66% of counties.
Is Muscatine County safe?
Yes, Muscatine County is safer than 92% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Muscatine County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 18. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Muscatine County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Wilton, West Liberty, and Muscatine. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Muscatine County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Muscatine County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Muscatine 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.
Muscatine County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Muscatine County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Muscatine County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Muscatine County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Muscatine County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Muscatine 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.