Best PlacesNorwalk, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norwalk, 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.
Norwalk ranks 697th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Norwalk
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.
Norwalk's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norwalk ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
Where Norwalk ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 30% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 48% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 49% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Norwalk
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norwalk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,624, 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 Norwalk's effective rate of 1.58%, 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 Norwalk
Norwalk'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 Norwalk.
Who works in Norwalk, and how
Work in Norwalk centers on finance & insurance and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Norwalk
Norwalk has more parkland per resident than 83% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Norwalk and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Norwalk, month by month
Norwalk sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Norwalk
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norwalk
Schools across Norwalk average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Martensdale Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Orchard Hills ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Irving Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indianola Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Norwalk Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Carlisle Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Norwalk Senior High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Indianola High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Martensdale-st Marys Jr-sr High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norwalk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norwalk 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 Norwalk against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Norwalk
Is Norwalk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norwalk ranks 697th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, biking, and good schools, 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 Norwalk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $316,235. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $99,624 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Norwalk safe?
Yes, Norwalk is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $116 per resident a year.
Compare Norwalk with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norwalk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norwalk 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.
Norwalk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norwalk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norwalk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norwalk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norwalk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norwalk 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.