Best PlacesPitzer, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pitzer, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Pitzer ranks 4,938th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pitzer
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.
Pitzer's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pitzer ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 92% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- Short commute20.4 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
- Household income$100,636 median, better than 85% of towns
Where Pitzer ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 11% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pitzer
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pitzer home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $100,636; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Pitzer's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 Pitzer
Pitzer runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pitzer.
Who works in Pitzer, and how
Work in Pitzer centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Pitzer
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pitzer.
What the weather is like in Pitzer, month by month
Pitzer sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Pitzer
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pitzer
Schools across Pitzer average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Earlham Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Winterset Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Nodaway Valley Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Earlham Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Nodaway Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- West Central Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Winterset Senior High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Earlham Senior High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- West Central Valley High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pitzer school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pitzer 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 Pitzer against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pitzer
Is Pitzer a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pitzer ranks 4,938th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and what local pay buys, and lowest on internet speeds and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pitzer expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $388,444. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $100,636 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Pitzer safe?
Pitzer is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $285 per resident a year.
Compare Pitzer with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pitzer. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pitzer 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.
Pitzer detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pitzer: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pitzer: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pitzer: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pitzer: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pitzer 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.