Best PlacesRingsted, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ringsted, 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.
Ringsted ranks 6,721st 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 Ringsted
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.
Ringsted's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ringsted ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 91% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of towns
Where Ringsted ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 37% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 37% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ringsted
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ringsted home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,394, 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 Ringsted's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Ringsted
Ringsted runs older than the country, 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 Ringsted.
Who works in Ringsted, and how
Work in Ringsted centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ringsted
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ringsted.
What the weather is like in Ringsted, month by month
Ringsted sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Ringsted
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ringsted
Schools across Ringsted average an A, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Union ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- West Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Graettinger-terril Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Union Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Emmetsburg Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Estherville Lincoln Central Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Estherville Lincoln Central High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Emmetsburg High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- North Union High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ringsted school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ringsted 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 Ringsted against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ringsted
Is Ringsted a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ringsted ranks 6,721st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, civic engagement, and a stable housing market, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ringsted expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,806. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $77,394 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Ringsted safe?
Yes, Ringsted is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
Compare Ringsted with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ringsted. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ringsted 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.
Ringsted detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ringsted: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ringsted: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ringsted: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ringsted: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ringsted 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.