Best PlacesRockwell City, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rockwell City, 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.
Rockwell City ranks 18,763rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rockwell City
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.
Rockwell City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rockwell City ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
Where Rockwell City ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rockwell City
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rockwell City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,428, 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 Rockwell City's effective rate of 1.12%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rockwell City
Rockwell City 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 Rockwell City.
Who works in Rockwell City, and how
Work in Rockwell City centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Rockwell City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rockwell City.
What the weather is like in Rockwell City, month by month
Rockwell City sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 20° | 11° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Rockwell City
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rockwell City
Schools across Rockwell City average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Valley Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Manson Northwest Webster ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- South Central Calhoun Elementary BuildingA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Central Calhoun Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Southeast Valley High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- South Central Calhoun High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Manson Northwest Webster Junior High/high SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rockwell City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rockwell City 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 Rockwell City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rockwell City
Is Rockwell City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockwell City ranks 18,763rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, civic engagement, and walkability, and lowest on air quality 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 Rockwell City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $115,695. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $59,428 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Rockwell City safe?
Rockwell City is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.
Compare Rockwell City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rockwell City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rockwell City 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.
Rockwell City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rockwell City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rockwell City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rockwell City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rockwell City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rockwell City 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.