Best PlacesStanzel, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stanzel, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stanzel ranks 19,664th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stanzel
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.
Stanzel's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stanzel ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Short commute20.5 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
Where Stanzel ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stanzel
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stanzel home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,705, 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 Stanzel's effective rate of 1.00%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Stanzel
Stanzel 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 Stanzel.
Who works in Stanzel, and how
Work in Stanzel centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Stanzel
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stanzel.
What the weather is like in Stanzel, month by month
Stanzel sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Stanzel
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stanzel
Schools across Stanzel average a B+, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Winterset Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Nodaway Valley Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Orient Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nodaway Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Winterset Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Winterset Senior High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Nodaway Valley High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Orient-macksburg Senior High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stanzel school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stanzel 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 Stanzel against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stanzel
Is Stanzel a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stanzel ranks 19,664th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, state finances, and quiet, and lowest on a weak job market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stanzel expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $240,540. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $73,705 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is Stanzel safe?
Stanzel is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $319 per resident a year.
Compare Stanzel with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stanzel. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stanzel 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.
Stanzel detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stanzel: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stanzel: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stanzel: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stanzel: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stanzel 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.