Best PlacesTama County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Tama County, 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.
Tama County ranks 929th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Tama 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.
Tama County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tama County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 85% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 74% of counties
Where Tama County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 32% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 33% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Tama County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tama County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,237, 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 Tama County's effective rate of 1.30%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Tama County
Tama County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tama County.
Who works in Tama County, and how
Work in Tama County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Tama County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Tama County.
Is Tama County growing, and who is moving in?
Tama County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux Falls, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Tama County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Tama County, month by month
Tama County sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 13° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Tama County
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 181 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tama County
Schools across Tama County average a B+, better than 85% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Grundy Center Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Dysart-geneseo Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Gladbrook-reinbeck Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grundy Center Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Union Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- East Marshall Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Grundy Center High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Gladbrook-reinbeck Jr. High & High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Union High SchoolA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tama County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tama 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 Tama County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Tama County
Is Tama County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tama County ranks 929th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, state finances, and good schools, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tama County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $146,881. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $70,237 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Tama County safe?
Yes, Tama County is safer than 74% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
Compare Tama County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tama County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tama 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.
Tama County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tama County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tama County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tama County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tama County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tama 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.