Best PlacesOttumwa Junction, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ottumwa Junction, 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.
Ottumwa Junction ranks 8,693rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ottumwa Junction
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.
Ottumwa Junction's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ottumwa Junction ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Ottumwa Junction ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 39% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ottumwa Junction
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ottumwa Junction home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,314, 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 Ottumwa Junction's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 Ottumwa Junction
Ottumwa Junction runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ottumwa Junction.
Who works in Ottumwa Junction, and how
Work in Ottumwa Junction centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ottumwa Junction
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ottumwa Junction.
What the weather is like in Ottumwa Junction, month by month
Ottumwa Junction sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Ottumwa Junction
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 66 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 169 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ottumwa Junction
Schools across Ottumwa Junction average a B−, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eisenhower Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Eddyville ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Blakesburg ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Evans Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Eddyville-blakesburg-fremont Jr/sr HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ottumwa Junction school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ottumwa Junction 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 Ottumwa Junction against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ottumwa Junction
Is Ottumwa Junction a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ottumwa Junction ranks 8,693rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low crime, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on noise and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ottumwa Junction expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,102. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $89,314 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Ottumwa Junction safe?
Yes, Ottumwa Junction is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $165 per resident a year.
Compare Ottumwa Junction with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ottumwa Junction. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ottumwa Junction 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.
Ottumwa Junction detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ottumwa Junction: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ottumwa Junction: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ottumwa Junction: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ottumwa Junction: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ottumwa Junction 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.