Best PlacesPrimrose, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Primrose, 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.
Primrose ranks 8,841st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Primrose
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.
Primrose's strengths and weaknesses
Where Primrose ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Primrose ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 11% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Primrose
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Primrose home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,359, 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 Primrose's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 Primrose
Primrose'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 Primrose.
Who works in Primrose, and how
Work in Primrose centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Primrose
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Primrose.
What the weather is like in Primrose, month by month
Primrose sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 85° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Primrose
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 149 miles away.
The best schools in and around Primrose
Schools across Primrose average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Van Buren County Community School District Harmony CenterA · 65% proficient
- Central Lee Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Lee Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Lee High SchoolA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Primrose school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Primrose 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 Primrose against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Primrose
Is Primrose a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Primrose ranks 8,841st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on internet speeds and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Primrose expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $168,347. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $68,359 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Primrose safe?
Yes, Primrose is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
Compare Primrose with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Primrose. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Primrose 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.
Primrose detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Primrose: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Primrose: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Primrose: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Primrose: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Primrose 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.