Best PlacesShelby County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Shelby County, 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.
Shelby County ranks 172nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Shelby 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.
Shelby County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shelby County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of counties
Where Shelby County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 43% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Shelby County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shelby County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,460, 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 Shelby County's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 Shelby County
Shelby 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 Shelby County.
Who works in Shelby County, and how
Work in Shelby County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Shelby County
Shelby County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 88% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Shelby County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Shelby County growing, and who is moving in?
Shelby County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Omaha, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Shelby County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Shelby County, month by month
Shelby County sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 22° | 15° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Shelby County
Eppley Airfield sits about 39 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Shelby County
Schools across Shelby County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ahstw Primary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Boyer Valley Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Irwin Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ikm-manning Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Harlan Community Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Tri-center Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Ahstw High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Harlan High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Tri-center High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shelby County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shelby 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 Shelby County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Shelby County
Is Shelby County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shelby County ranks 172nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, health care access, and state finances, and lowest on internet speeds and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shelby County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,517. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $75,460 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is Shelby County safe?
Yes, Shelby County is safer than 88% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $230 per resident a year.
Compare Shelby County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shelby County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shelby 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.
Shelby County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shelby County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shelby County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shelby County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shelby County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shelby 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.