Best PlacesRock Rapids, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rock Rapids, 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.
Rock Rapids ranks 3,695th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rock Rapids
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.
Rock Rapids' strengths and weaknesses
Where Rock Rapids ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.8 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
Where Rock Rapids ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 30% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 36% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rock Rapids
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rock Rapids home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,106, 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 Rock Rapids' effective rate of 1.02%, 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 Rock Rapids
Rock Rapids runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rock Rapids.
Who works in Rock Rapids, and how
Work in Rock Rapids 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 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Rock Rapids
Rock Rapids has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Rock Rapids and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rock Rapids, month by month
Rock Rapids sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 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° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 60° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Rock Rapids
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rock Rapids
Schools across Rock Rapids average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- George-little Rock Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- George-little Rock Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Central Lyon Secondary SchoolA · 75% proficient
- George-little Rock Senior High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rock Rapids school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rock Rapids 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 Rock Rapids against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rock Rapids
Is Rock Rapids a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rock Rapids ranks 3,695th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, short commutes, and civic engagement, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rock Rapids expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,238. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $71,106 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Rock Rapids safe?
Yes, Rock Rapids is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $182 per resident a year.
Compare Rock Rapids with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rock Rapids. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rock Rapids 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.
Rock Rapids detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rock Rapids: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rock Rapids: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rock Rapids: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rock Rapids: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rock Rapids 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.