Best PlacesPella, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pella, 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.
Pella ranks 1,606th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pella
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.
Pella's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pella ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Short commute14.7 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
Where Pella ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 25% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 33% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pella
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pella home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,028, 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 Pella's effective rate of 1.28%, 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 Pella
Pella runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Pella.
Who works in Pella, and how
Work in Pella centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Pella
Pella has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of towns and more parkland per resident than 86% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pella and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pella, month by month
Pella sees roughly 56 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 Pella
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pella
Schools across Pella average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Mahaska Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Madison Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pella Middle SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Jefferson IntermediateA+ · 80% proficient
Top high schools
- Pella High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- North Mahaska Jr-sr High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pella school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pella 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 Pella against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pella
Is Pella a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pella ranks 1,606th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pella expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $290,546. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $87,028 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Pella safe?
Yes, Pella is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
Compare Pella with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pella. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pella 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.
Pella detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pella: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pella: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pella: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pella: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pella 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.