Best PlacesRochester, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rochester, 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.
Rochester ranks 8,904th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rochester
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.
Rochester's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rochester ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of towns
Where Rochester ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 35% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rochester
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rochester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,622, 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 Rochester's effective rate of 0.95%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Rochester
Rochester runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rochester.
Who works in Rochester, and how
Work in Rochester centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Rochester
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rochester.
What the weather is like in Rochester, month by month
Rochester sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Rochester
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 169 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rochester
Schools across Rochester average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wilton Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Tipton Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Hoover Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Branch Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Tipton Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- West Liberty Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilton Jr-sr High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Tipton High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- West Branch High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rochester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rochester 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 Rochester against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rochester
Is Rochester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rochester ranks 8,904th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, state finances, and civic engagement, and lowest on noise and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rochester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $327,031. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $90,622 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is Rochester safe?
Yes, Rochester is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
Compare Rochester with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rochester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rochester 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.
Rochester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rochester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rochester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rochester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rochester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rochester 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.