Best PlacesNorth Liberty, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Liberty, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
North Liberty ranks 532nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Liberty
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.
North Liberty's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Liberty ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
Where North Liberty ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 27% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Liberty
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Liberty home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $119,985, 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 North Liberty's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 North Liberty
North Liberty runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Liberty.
Who works in North Liberty, and how
Work in North Liberty centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in North Liberty
North Liberty has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns and more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of North Liberty and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Liberty, month by month
North Liberty sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of North Liberty
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 191 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Liberty
Schools across North Liberty average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wickham ElementaryA+ · 86% proficient
- Lakeview ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Penn Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
Top middle schools
- Solon Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Clear Creek Amana Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- North Central Junior High SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Solon High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Clear Creek Amana High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- West Senior High SchoolA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Liberty school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Liberty 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 North Liberty against the other 50,332 towns.
Who North Liberty suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of towns and 19% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 63% of towns and health care access beats 80%.
Common questions about living in North Liberty
Is North Liberty a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Liberty ranks 532nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, biking, and what local pay buys, and lowest on noise and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Liberty expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $331,716. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $119,985 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is North Liberty safe?
Yes, North Liberty is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $164 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in North Liberty?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 16. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of towns.
Is North Liberty good for families?
Schools beat 95% of towns, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $773 a month.
Compare North Liberty with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Liberty. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Liberty 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.
North Liberty detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Liberty: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Liberty: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Liberty: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Liberty: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Liberty 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.