Best PlacesShell Rock, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shell Rock, 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.
Shell Rock ranks 6,512th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shell Rock
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.
Shell Rock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shell Rock ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of towns
Where Shell Rock ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 27% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 29% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shell Rock
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shell Rock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,089, 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 Shell Rock'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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shell Rock
Shell Rock'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 Shell Rock.
Who works in Shell Rock, and how
Work in Shell Rock centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Shell Rock
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shell Rock.
What the weather is like in Shell Rock, month by month
Shell Rock sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 20° | 11° |
| April | 63° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Shell Rock
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shell Rock
Schools across Shell Rock average an A+, better than 97% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Cedar Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- New Hartford Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Janesville Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dike-new Hartford Junior High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Waverly-shell Rock Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Aplington-parkersburg Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Waverly-shell Rock Senior High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Aplington-parkersburg High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Clarksville High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shell Rock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shell Rock 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 Shell Rock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shell Rock
Is Shell Rock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shell Rock ranks 6,512th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on property taxes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shell Rock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $189,148. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $84,089 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Shell Rock safe?
Yes, Shell Rock is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $202 per resident a year.
Compare Shell Rock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shell Rock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shell Rock 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.
Shell Rock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shell Rock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shell Rock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shell Rock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shell Rock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shell Rock 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.