Best PlacesSheldahl, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sheldahl, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sheldahl ranks 605th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sheldahl
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.
Sheldahl's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sheldahl ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
Where Sheldahl ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 31% of towns
- TransitBetter than only 44% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 47% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sheldahl
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sheldahl home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $119,930, 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 Sheldahl's effective rate of 1.40%, 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 Sheldahl
Sheldahl'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 Sheldahl.
Who works in Sheldahl, and how
Work in Sheldahl centers on health care & social and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Sheldahl
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sheldahl.
What the weather is like in Sheldahl, month by month
Sheldahl sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Sheldahl
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sheldahl
Schools across Sheldahl average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ballard East ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- North Polk Central Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Madrid Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Polk Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Ballard Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Madrid Junior High SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- North Polk High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Ballard High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Madrid High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sheldahl school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sheldahl 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 Sheldahl against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sheldahl
Is Sheldahl a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sheldahl ranks 605th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, what local pay buys, and few empty homes, and lowest on property taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sheldahl expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $344,850. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $119,930 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Sheldahl safe?
Yes, Sheldahl is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $213 per resident a year.
Compare Sheldahl with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sheldahl. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sheldahl 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.
Sheldahl detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sheldahl: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sheldahl: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sheldahl: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sheldahl: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sheldahl 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.