Best PlacesOdebolt, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Odebolt, 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.
Odebolt ranks 5,804th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Odebolt
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.
Odebolt's strengths and weaknesses
Where Odebolt ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 91% of towns
Where Odebolt ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 29% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Odebolt
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Odebolt home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,180, 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 Odebolt's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Odebolt
Odebolt runs older than the country, 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 Odebolt.
Who works in Odebolt, and how
Work in Odebolt centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Odebolt
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Odebolt.
What the weather is like in Odebolt, month by month
Odebolt sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Odebolt
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Odebolt
Schools across Odebolt average an A, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Odebolt Arthur Battle Creek Ida Grove Elementary-odeboltA− · 62% proficient
- Schaller-crestland ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Odebolt Arthur Battle Creek Ida Grove Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Schaller-crestland Ridge View Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Odebolt Arthur Battle Creek Ida Grove High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Denison High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- East Sac County High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Odebolt school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Odebolt 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 Odebolt against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Odebolt
Is Odebolt a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Odebolt ranks 5,804th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on internet speeds and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Odebolt expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,840. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $76,180 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Odebolt safe?
Yes, Odebolt is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $257 per resident a year.
Compare Odebolt with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Odebolt. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Odebolt 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.
Odebolt detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Odebolt: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Odebolt: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Odebolt: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Odebolt: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Odebolt 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.