Best PlacesPoweshiek County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Poweshiek 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.
Poweshiek County ranks 518th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Poweshiek 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.
Poweshiek County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Poweshiek County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Short commute18.6 minutes each way, better than 86% of counties
Where Poweshiek County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 36% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Poweshiek County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Poweshiek County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,761, 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 Poweshiek County's effective rate of 1.22%, 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 Poweshiek County
Poweshiek County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Poweshiek County.
Who works in Poweshiek County, and how
Work in Poweshiek County centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Poweshiek County
Poweshiek County has more parkland per resident than 97% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Poweshiek County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Poweshiek County growing, and who is moving in?
Poweshiek County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Mahaska County, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Poweshiek County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Poweshiek County, month by month
Poweshiek County sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Poweshiek County
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 172 miles away.
The best schools in and around Poweshiek County
Schools across Poweshiek County average an A, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- North Mahaska Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Davis Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Brooklyn-guernsey-malcom Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lynnville-sully Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Grinnell Community Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- East Marshall Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Grinnell Community Senior High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Lynnville-sully High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Montezuma High SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Poweshiek County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Poweshiek 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 Poweshiek County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Poweshiek County
Is Poweshiek County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Poweshiek County ranks 518th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and state finances, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Poweshiek County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,826. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $71,761 median income, cost of living beats 57% of counties.
Is Poweshiek County safe?
Yes, Poweshiek County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
Compare Poweshiek County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Poweshiek County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Poweshiek 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.
Poweshiek County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Poweshiek County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Poweshiek County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Poweshiek County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Poweshiek County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Poweshiek 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.