Best PlacesSac County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sac County, 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.
Sac County ranks 432nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sac County
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.
Sac County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sac County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of counties
Where Sac County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 26% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 29% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sac County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sac County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,113, 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 Sac County's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sac County
Sac County 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 Sac County.
Who works in Sac County, and how
Work in Sac County 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 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sac County
Sac County has more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Sac County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sac County growing, and who is moving in?
Sac County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Buena Vista County, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sac County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sac County, month by month
Sac County sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Sac County
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sac County
Schools across Sac County average an A−, better than 93% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Galva-holstein Upper ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- South Central Calhoun Elementary BuildingA · 65% proficient
- Odebolt Arthur Battle Creek Ida Grove Elementary-odeboltA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Odebolt Arthur Battle Creek Ida Grove Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Carroll Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Schaller-crestland Ridge View Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Odebolt Arthur Battle Creek Ida Grove High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Alta-aurelia High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Ridge View High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sac County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sac County 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 Sac County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Sac County
Is Sac County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sac County ranks 432nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and good schools, and lowest on internet speeds and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sac County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $140,929. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $76,113 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Sac County safe?
Yes, Sac County is safer than 75% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare Sac County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sac County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sac County 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.
Sac County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sac County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sac County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sac County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sac County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sac County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.