Best PlacesOlivet, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Olivet, 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.
Olivet ranks 2,437th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Olivet
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.
Olivet's strengths and weaknesses
Where Olivet ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
Where Olivet ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Olivet
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Olivet home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,602, 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 Olivet's effective rate of 1.22%, 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 Olivet
Olivet runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Olivet.
Who works in Olivet, and how
Work in Olivet centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Olivet
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Olivet.
What the weather is like in Olivet, month by month
Olivet sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Olivet
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 158 miles away.
The best schools in and around Olivet
Schools across Olivet average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Oskaloosa Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Twin Cedars Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pella Middle SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Oskaloosa Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Pella High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Oskaloosa High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Twin Cedars Jr-sr High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Olivet school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Olivet 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 Olivet against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Olivet
Is Olivet a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Olivet ranks 2,437th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and low crime, and lowest on the weather and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Olivet expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,524. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $99,602 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Olivet safe?
Yes, Olivet is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $156 per resident a year.
Compare Olivet with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Olivet. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Olivet 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.
Olivet detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Olivet: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Olivet: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Olivet: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Olivet: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Olivet 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.