Best PlacesO'Brien County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in O'Brien County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
O'Brien County ranks 284th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in O'Brien 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.
O'Brien County's strengths and weaknesses
Where O'Brien County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 97% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
Where O'Brien County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in O'Brien County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median O'Brien County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,804, 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 O'Brien County'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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in O'Brien County
O'Brien County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for O'Brien County.
Who works in O'Brien County, and how
Work in O'Brien 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 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in O'Brien County
O'Brien County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 65% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of O'Brien County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is O'Brien County growing, and who is moving in?
O'Brien County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Osceola County, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving O'Brien County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in O'Brien County, month by month
O'Brien County sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 62° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of O'Brien County
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around O'Brien County
Schools across O'Brien County average an A, better than 97% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hospers Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- East Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Hartley-melvin-sanborn Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moc-floyd Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Spencer Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Sheldon Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Moc-floyd Valley High SchoolA · 74% proficient
- Hartley-melvin-sanborn High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Sheldon High SchoolA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every O'Brien County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
O'Brien 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 O'Brien County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in O'Brien County
Is O'Brien County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, O'Brien County ranks 284th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is O'Brien County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,357. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $74,804 median income, cost of living beats 68% of counties.
Is O'Brien County safe?
Yes, O'Brien County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
Compare O'Brien County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to O'Brien County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in O'Brien 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.
O'Brien County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for O'Brien County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in O'Brien County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of O'Brien County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in O'Brien County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
O'Brien 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.