Best PlacesRock Valley, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rock Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rock Valley ranks 1,470th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rock Valley
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 Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rock Valley ranks high
- Short commute14.0 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
Where Rock Valley ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 24% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 37% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 42% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rock Valley
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rock Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,944, 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 Valley's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rock Valley
Rock Valley'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 Rock Valley.
Who works in Rock Valley, and how
Work in Rock Valley centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Rock Valley
Rock Valley has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Rock Valley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rock Valley, month by month
Rock Valley sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 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° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 62° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Rock Valley
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rock Valley
Schools across Rock Valley average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Kinsey Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Rock Valley Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Rock Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Sioux Center Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Sioux Center High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Rock Valley High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rock Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rock Valley 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 Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rock Valley
Is Rock Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rock Valley ranks 1,470th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, civic engagement, and biking, 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 Rock Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,400. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $93,944 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Rock Valley safe?
Yes, Rock Valley is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $222 per resident a year.
Compare Rock Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rock Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rock Valley 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 Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rock Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rock Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rock Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rock Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rock Valley 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.