Best PlacesPottawattamie County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pottawattamie 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.
Pottawattamie County ranks 354th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pottawattamie 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.
Pottawattamie County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pottawattamie County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 92% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- TransitBetter than 90% of counties
Where Pottawattamie County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 36% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 43% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 43% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pottawattamie County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pottawattamie County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,878, 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 Pottawattamie County's effective rate of 1.43%, 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 Pottawattamie County
Pottawattamie 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 Pottawattamie County.
Who works in Pottawattamie County, and how
Work in Pottawattamie County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Pottawattamie County
Pottawattamie County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of counties and more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pottawattamie County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pottawattamie County growing, and who is moving in?
Pottawattamie County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Omaha, NE metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pottawattamie County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pottawattamie County, month by month
Pottawattamie County sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 15° |
| April | 68° | 52° | 39° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Pottawattamie County
Eppley Airfield sits about 6 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Pottawattamie County
Schools across Pottawattamie County average an A−, better than 88% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Treynor Elementary SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- West Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Underwood Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Treynor Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Underwood Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Glenwood Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- Treynor High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Underwood High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Ahstw High SchoolA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pottawattamie County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pottawattamie 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 Pottawattamie County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Pottawattamie County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 56% of counties and health care access beats 61%.
Common questions about living in Pottawattamie County
Is Pottawattamie County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pottawattamie County ranks 354th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, cell coverage, and state finances, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pottawattamie County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $218,353. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $79,878 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Pottawattamie County safe?
Yes, Pottawattamie County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pottawattamie County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 15. That works out to about 94 pleasant days a year, more than 56% of counties.
Is Pottawattamie County good for families?
Schools beat 88% of counties, crime safety beats 91%, and childcare runs $737 a month.
Compare Pottawattamie County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pottawattamie County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pottawattamie 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.
Pottawattamie County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pottawattamie County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pottawattamie County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pottawattamie County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pottawattamie County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pottawattamie 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.