Best PlacesSwedesburg, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Swedesburg, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Swedesburg ranks 9,551st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Swedesburg
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.
Swedesburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Swedesburg ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
Where Swedesburg ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Swedesburg
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Swedesburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,494, 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 Swedesburg's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Swedesburg
Swedesburg runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Swedesburg.
Who works in Swedesburg, and how
Work in Swedesburg centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Swedesburg
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Swedesburg.
What the weather is like in Swedesburg, month by month
Swedesburg sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Swedesburg
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 174 miles away.
The best schools in and around Swedesburg
Schools across Swedesburg average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Louisa-muscatine ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Winfield Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Harlan Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Pleasant Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Wapello Junior High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Louisa-muscatine Jr/sr High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Waco High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Winfield-mt Union Jr-sr High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Swedesburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Swedesburg 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 Swedesburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Swedesburg
Is Swedesburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Swedesburg ranks 9,551st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, state finances, and a stable housing market, and lowest on tree cover and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Swedesburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,914. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $77,494 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Swedesburg safe?
Yes, Swedesburg is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
Compare Swedesburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Swedesburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Swedesburg 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.
Swedesburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Swedesburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Swedesburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Swedesburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Swedesburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Swedesburg 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.