Best PlacesPetersville, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Petersville, 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.
Petersville ranks 7,836th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Petersville
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.
Petersville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Petersville ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 91% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of towns
Where Petersville ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 25% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Petersville
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Petersville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,286, 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 Petersville's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 Petersville
Petersville'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 Petersville.
Who works in Petersville, and how
Work in Petersville centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Petersville
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Petersville.
What the weather is like in Petersville, month by month
Petersville sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 22° | 15° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Petersville
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Petersville
Schools across Petersville average an A, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Delwood Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Ekstrand Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Northeast Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Dewitt Intermediate SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Maquoketa Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Dewitt High SchoolA · 77% proficient
- Maquoketa Community High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Easton Valley Junior High / High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Petersville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Petersville 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 Petersville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Petersville
Is Petersville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Petersville ranks 7,836th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and a stable housing market, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Petersville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,236. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $82,286 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Petersville safe?
Yes, Petersville is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
Compare Petersville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Petersville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Petersville 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.
Petersville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Petersville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Petersville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Petersville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Petersville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Petersville 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.