Best PlacesPlymouth County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Plymouth County, 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.
Plymouth County ranks 105th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Plymouth County
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.
Plymouth County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Plymouth County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of counties
Where Plymouth County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 30% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 31% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Plymouth County
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plymouth County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,673, 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 Plymouth County's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 Plymouth County
Plymouth County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Plymouth County.
Who works in Plymouth County, and how
Work in Plymouth County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Plymouth County
Plymouth County has more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Plymouth County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Plymouth County growing, and who is moving in?
Plymouth County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux City, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Plymouth County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Plymouth County, month by month
Plymouth County sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 50° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Plymouth County
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around Plymouth County
Schools across Plymouth County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Remsen-union Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Bronson Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Kluckhohn Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top middle schools
- Akron Westfield Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Hinton Intermediate SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Le Mars Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Kingsley-pierson High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Lawton-bronson Junior-senior High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Hinton High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plymouth County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plymouth County 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 Plymouth County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Plymouth County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 61% of counties and health care access beats 92%.
Common questions about living in Plymouth County
Is Plymouth County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plymouth County ranks 105th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on property taxes and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Plymouth County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,729. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $84,673 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Plymouth County safe?
Yes, Plymouth County is safer than 92% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $226 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Plymouth County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 14. That works out to about 101 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of counties.
Is Plymouth County good for families?
Schools beat 98% of counties, crime safety beats 92%, and childcare runs $704 a month.
Compare Plymouth County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plymouth County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plymouth County 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.
Plymouth County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plymouth County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plymouth County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plymouth County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plymouth County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plymouth County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.