Best PlacesPopejoy, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Popejoy, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Popejoy ranks 10,351st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Popejoy
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.
Popejoy's strengths and weaknesses
Where Popejoy ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
Where Popejoy ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Popejoy
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Popejoy home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,607, 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 Popejoy'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 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 Popejoy
Popejoy runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Popejoy.
Who works in Popejoy, and how
Work in Popejoy centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Popejoy
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Popejoy.
What the weather is like in Popejoy, month by month
Popejoy sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Popejoy
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 155 miles away.
The best schools in and around Popejoy
Schools across Popejoy average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hubbard-radcliffe Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Alden Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Sunset Heights Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clarion-goldfield-dows Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- South Hardin Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Riverbend Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Iowa Falls - Alden High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Clarion-goldfield-dows High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Webster City High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Popejoy school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Popejoy 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 Popejoy against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Popejoy
Is Popejoy a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Popejoy ranks 10,351st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, state finances, and low crime, and lowest on biking and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Popejoy expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $116,344. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $71,607 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is Popejoy safe?
Yes, Popejoy is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
Compare Popejoy with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Popejoy. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Popejoy 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.
Popejoy detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Popejoy: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Popejoy: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Popejoy: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Popejoy: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Popejoy 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.