Best PlacesSuperior, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Superior, 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.
Superior ranks 2,849th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Superior
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.
Superior's strengths and weaknesses
Where Superior ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute17.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
Where Superior ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Superior
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Superior home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,015, 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 Superior's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Superior
Superior 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 Superior.
Who works in Superior, and how
Work in Superior centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Superior
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Superior.
What the weather is like in Superior, month by month
Superior sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Superior
The nearest airport, Fort Dodge Regional, is about 72 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Superior
Schools across Superior average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Spirit Lake Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Graettinger-terril Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Demoney ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spirit Lake Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Estherville Lincoln Central Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Graettinger-terril Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Spirit Lake High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Estherville Lincoln Central High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Graettinger-terril High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Superior school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Superior 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 Superior against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Superior
Is Superior a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Superior ranks 2,849th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, short commutes, and state finances, and lowest on empty homes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Superior expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,590. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $89,015 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Superior safe?
Yes, Superior is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $167 per resident a year.
Compare Superior with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Superior. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Superior 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.
Superior detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Superior: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Superior: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Superior: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Superior: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Superior 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.