Best PlacesNorthfield, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Northfield, 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.
Northfield ranks 4,968th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Northfield
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.
Northfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Northfield ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
Where Northfield ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 25% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 27% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Northfield
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Northfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,184, 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 Northfield's effective rate of 1.07%, 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 Northfield
Northfield runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Northfield.
Who works in Northfield, and how
Work in Northfield 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 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Northfield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Northfield.
What the weather is like in Northfield, month by month
Northfield sees roughly 93 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 Northfield
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Northfield
Schools across Northfield average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Morning Sun Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Mediapolis Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Wapello Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mediapolis Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Wapello Junior High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Mediapolis High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Wapello Senior High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Northfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Northfield 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 Northfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Northfield
Is Northfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Northfield ranks 4,968th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, state finances, and low crime, and lowest on walkability and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Northfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,167. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $92,184 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Northfield safe?
Yes, Northfield is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
Compare Northfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Northfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Northfield 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.
Northfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Northfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Northfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Northfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Northfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Northfield 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.