Best PlacesSioux County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sioux County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sioux County ranks 58th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sioux 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.
The best areas in Sioux County
The parts of Sioux County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Orange City
More adults hold degrees, schools score higher, and streets are more walkable.
Rock Valley
It is quieter and more households have young kids.
Hull
Biking is worse and fewer residents vote.
Sioux Center
Fewer homes sit empty.
Scores across Sioux County run from about the 65th to the 96th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Sioux County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sioux County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of counties
- Short commute13.5 minutes each way, better than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of counties
Where Sioux County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 31% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sioux County
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sioux County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,741, 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 Sioux County's effective rate of 1.09%, 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 Sioux County
Sioux County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sioux County.
Who works in Sioux County, and how
Work in Sioux County centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Sioux County
Sioux County has more parkland per resident than 82% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Sioux County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sioux County growing, and who is moving in?
Sioux County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Adair County, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sioux County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sioux County, month by month
Sioux County sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 62° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Sioux County
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sioux County
Schools across Sioux County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Remsen-union Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Orange City Elementary SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Hospers Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moc-floyd Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Rock Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Moc-floyd Valley High SchoolA · 74% proficient
- Sheldon High SchoolA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sioux County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sioux 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 Sioux County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sioux County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 61% of counties and health care access beats 77%.
Common questions about living in Sioux County
Is Sioux County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sioux County ranks 58th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, short commutes, and civic engagement, and lowest on tree cover and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sioux County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $258,815. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $88,741 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Sioux County safe?
Yes, Sioux County is safer than 93% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sioux County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 27 with lows near 11. That works out to about 101 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sioux County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Orange City, Rock Valley, and Hull. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Sioux County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sioux County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sioux 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.
Sioux County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sioux County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sioux County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sioux County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sioux County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sioux 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.