Best PlacesPeoria, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Peoria, 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.
Peoria ranks 7,679th 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 Peoria
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.
Peoria's strengths and weaknesses
Where Peoria ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute18.1 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
Where Peoria ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Peoria
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Peoria home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,089, 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 Peoria's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 Peoria
Peoria's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Peoria.
Who works in Peoria, and how
Work in Peoria centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Peoria
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Peoria.
What the weather is like in Peoria, month by month
Peoria 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 Peoria
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 160 miles away.
The best schools in and around Peoria
Schools across Peoria average an A, better than 97% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Mahaska Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Lynnville-sully Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pella Middle SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Lynnville-sully Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Pella High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Lynnville-sully High SchoolA · 72% 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 Peoria school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Peoria 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 Peoria against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Peoria
Is Peoria a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Peoria ranks 7,679th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and short commutes, and lowest on the weather and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Peoria expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,110. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $81,089 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Peoria safe?
Yes, Peoria is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $195 per resident a year.
Compare Peoria with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Peoria. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Peoria 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.
Peoria detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Peoria: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Peoria: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Peoria: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Peoria: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Peoria 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.