Best PlacesRake, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rake, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rake ranks 19,620th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rake
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.
Rake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rake ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
Where Rake ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$51,104 median, better than only 14% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rake
A household needs to earn about $26,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,104, 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 Rake's effective rate of 1.18%, 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 Rake
Rake'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 Rake.
Who works in Rake, and how
Work in Rake centers on other services and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Rake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rake.
What the weather is like in Rake, month by month
Rake sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 11° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Rake
The nearest airport, Mason City Municipal, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rake
Schools across Rake average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Mills Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- North Iowa Elem Buffalo CenterA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lake Mills Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- North Iowa Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Mills Senior High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- North Iowa High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rake 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 Rake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rake
Is Rake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rake ranks 19,620th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, state finances, and a stable housing market, and lowest on tree cover and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $95,771. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $51,104 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Rake safe?
Rake is safer than 41% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $308 per resident a year.
Compare Rake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rake 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.
Rake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rake 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.