Best PlacesPolk City, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Polk City, 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.
Polk City ranks 131st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Polk City
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.
Polk City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Polk City ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Household income$152,460 median, better than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
Where Polk City ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 33% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 36% of towns
- TransitBetter than only 44% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 48% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Polk City
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Polk City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $152,460, 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 Polk City's effective rate of 1.64%, 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 Polk City
Polk City'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 Polk City.
Who works in Polk City, and how
Work in Polk City centers on finance & insurance and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Polk City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Polk City.
What the weather is like in Polk City, month by month
Polk City sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 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 | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Polk City
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Polk City
Schools across Polk City average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Polk West Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Prairie Trail ElementaryA+ · 84% proficient
- Henry A Wallace Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Polk Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Prairie Ridge Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Parkview Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top high schools
- North Polk High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Ankeny High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Ankeny Centennial High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Polk City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Polk City 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 Polk City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Polk City
Is Polk City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Polk City ranks 131st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, good schools, and high incomes, and lowest on property taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Polk City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $408,141. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $152,460 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is Polk City safe?
Yes, Polk City is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
Compare Polk City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Polk City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Polk City 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.
Polk City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Polk City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Polk City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Polk City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Polk City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Polk City 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.