Best PlacesPlatteville, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Platteville, 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.
Platteville ranks 17,633rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Platteville
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.
Platteville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Platteville ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Platteville ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Platteville
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Platteville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,356, 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 Platteville's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Platteville
Platteville runs older than the country, 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 Platteville.
Who works in Platteville, and how
Work in Platteville centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Platteville
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Platteville.
What the weather is like in Platteville, month by month
Platteville sees roughly 91 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 Platteville
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 75 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Platteville
Schools across Platteville average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Ayr ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Bedford Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Lenox Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Mount Ayr High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Lenox High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Worth Co. HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Platteville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Platteville 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 Platteville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Platteville
Is Platteville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Platteville ranks 17,633rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on tree cover and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Platteville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $116,480. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $67,356 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is Platteville safe?
Platteville is safer than 44% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.
Compare Platteville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Platteville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Platteville 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.
Platteville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Platteville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Platteville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Platteville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Platteville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Platteville 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.