Best PlacesScotch Grove, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Scotch Grove, 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.
Scotch Grove ranks 2,940th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Scotch Grove
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.
Scotch Grove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Scotch Grove ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of towns
Where Scotch Grove ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 22% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 31% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Scotch Grove
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scotch Grove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,220, 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 Scotch Grove's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Scotch Grove
Scotch Grove runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Scotch Grove.
Who works in Scotch Grove, and how
Work in Scotch Grove centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Scotch Grove
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Scotch Grove.
What the weather is like in Scotch Grove, month by month
Scotch Grove sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Scotch Grove
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around Scotch Grove
Schools across Scotch Grove average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cascade Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Midland ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Monticello Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Cascade Junior-senior High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Monticello High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scotch Grove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scotch Grove 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 Scotch Grove against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Scotch Grove
Is Scotch Grove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scotch Grove ranks 2,940th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on walkability and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Scotch Grove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $221,142. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $95,220 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is Scotch Grove safe?
Yes, Scotch Grove is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $163 per resident a year.
Compare Scotch Grove with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scotch Grove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scotch Grove 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.
Scotch Grove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scotch Grove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scotch Grove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scotch Grove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scotch Grove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scotch Grove 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.