Best PlacesPrescott, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Prescott, 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.
Prescott ranks 12,536th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Prescott
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.
Prescott's strengths and weaknesses
Where Prescott ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute18.8 minutes each way, better than 91% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 82% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 81% of towns
Where Prescott ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Prescott
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Prescott home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,140, 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 Prescott's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Prescott
Prescott runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Prescott.
Who works in Prescott, and how
Work in Prescott centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Prescott
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Prescott.
What the weather is like in Prescott, month by month
Prescott sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 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 | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Prescott
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around Prescott
Schools across Prescott average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lenox Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Nodaway Valley Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Orient Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nodaway Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Creston Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Southwest Valley Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Creston High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Lenox High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Nodaway Valley High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Prescott school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Prescott 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 Prescott against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Prescott
Is Prescott a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Prescott ranks 12,536th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and health care access, and lowest on internet speeds and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Prescott expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,594. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $80,140 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Prescott safe?
Yes, Prescott is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare Prescott with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Prescott. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Prescott 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.
Prescott detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Prescott: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Prescott: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Prescott: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Prescott: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Prescott 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.