Best PlacesOsborne, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Osborne, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Osborne ranks 16,069th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Osborne
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.
Osborne's strengths and weaknesses
Where Osborne ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
Where Osborne ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 21% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Osborne
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Osborne home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,551, 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 Osborne's effective rate of 1.12%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Osborne
Osborne 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 Osborne.
Who works in Osborne, and how
Work in Osborne centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Osborne
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Osborne.
What the weather is like in Osborne, month by month
Osborne sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Osborne
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 169 miles away.
The best schools in and around Osborne
Schools across Osborne average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Starmont Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clayton Ridge Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Starmont Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Clayton Ridge High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Central Middle School/high SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Starmont High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Osborne school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Osborne 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 Osborne against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Osborne
Is Osborne a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Osborne ranks 16,069th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and good schools, and lowest on cell coverage and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Osborne expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,240. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $63,551 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Osborne safe?
Yes, Osborne is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
Compare Osborne with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Osborne. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Osborne 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.
Osborne detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Osborne: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Osborne: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Osborne: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Osborne: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Osborne 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.