Best PlacesSwaledale, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Swaledale, 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.
Swaledale ranks 11,239th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Swaledale
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.
Swaledale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Swaledale ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of towns
Where Swaledale ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 25% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 27% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Swaledale
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Swaledale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,301, 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 Swaledale's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Swaledale
Swaledale runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Swaledale.
Who works in Swaledale, and how
Work in Swaledale centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Swaledale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Swaledale.
What the weather is like in Swaledale, month by month
Swaledale sees roughly 112 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° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 49° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Swaledale
The nearest airport, Mason City Municipal, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Swaledale
Schools across Swaledale average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Garner-hayfield-ventura Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Clear Creek Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- West Fork Elementary At RockwellA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Garner-hayfield-ventura Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Clear Lake Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- West Fork Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Garner-hayfield-ventura High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Clear Lake High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- West Fork High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Swaledale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Swaledale 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 Swaledale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Swaledale
Is Swaledale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Swaledale ranks 11,239th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, a stable housing market, and good schools, and lowest on air quality and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Swaledale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,711. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $83,301 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Swaledale safe?
Yes, Swaledale is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
Compare Swaledale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Swaledale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Swaledale 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.
Swaledale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Swaledale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Swaledale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Swaledale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Swaledale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Swaledale 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.