Best PlacesRubio, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rubio, 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.
Rubio ranks 9,593rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rubio
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.
Rubio's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rubio ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of towns
Where Rubio ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 26% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rubio
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rubio home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,875, 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 Rubio's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rubio
Rubio'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 Rubio.
Who works in Rubio, and how
Work in Rubio centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Rubio
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rubio.
What the weather is like in Rubio, month by month
Rubio sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Rubio
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 190 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rubio
Schools across Rubio average an A, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pekin Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Keota Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washington Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Keota High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Pekin Community Junior/ Senior High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Washington High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rubio school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rubio 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 Rubio against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rubio
Is Rubio a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rubio ranks 9,593rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, a stable housing market, and good schools, and lowest on internet speeds and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rubio expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,867. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $87,875 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Rubio safe?
Yes, Rubio is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $199 per resident a year.
Compare Rubio with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rubio. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rubio 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.
Rubio detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rubio: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rubio: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rubio: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rubio: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rubio 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.