Best PlacesRicketts, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ricketts, 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.
Ricketts ranks 9,162nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ricketts
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.
Ricketts' strengths and weaknesses
Where Ricketts ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 91% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 84% of towns
Where Ricketts ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ricketts
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ricketts home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,652, 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 Ricketts' effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Ricketts
Ricketts'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 Ricketts.
Who works in Ricketts, and how
Work in Ricketts 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 77%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Ricketts
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ricketts.
What the weather is like in Ricketts, month by month
Ricketts sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Ricketts
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ricketts
Schools across Ricketts average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Schleswig Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Charter Oak-ute Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Charter Oak-ute Junior High SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Schleswig Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Denison High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Maple Valley-anthon Oto High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ricketts school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ricketts 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 Ricketts against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ricketts
Is Ricketts a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ricketts ranks 9,162nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and what local pay buys, and lowest on tree cover and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ricketts expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $228,570. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $81,652 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Ricketts safe?
Ricketts is safer than 41% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
Compare Ricketts with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ricketts. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ricketts 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.
Ricketts detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ricketts: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ricketts: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ricketts: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ricketts: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ricketts 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.