Best PlacesThirty, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thirty, 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.
Thirty ranks 20,612th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Thirty
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.
Thirty's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thirty ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Short commute22.6 minutes each way, better than 77% of towns
Where Thirty ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 21% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thirty
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thirty home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,712, 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 Thirty's effective rate of 1.20%, 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 Thirty
Thirty 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 Thirty.
Who works in Thirty, and how
Work in Thirty centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Thirty
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thirty.
What the weather is like in Thirty, month by month
Thirty sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Thirty
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 139 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thirty
Schools across Thirty average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Moulton Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Howar Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Centerville High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Moulton-udell High SchoolC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thirty school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thirty 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 Thirty against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thirty
Is Thirty a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thirty ranks 20,612th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, a stable housing market, and civic engagement, and lowest on distance from a big city and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thirty expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $128,417. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $62,712 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Thirty safe?
Yes, Thirty is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $263 per resident a year.
Compare Thirty with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thirty. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thirty 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.
Thirty detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thirty: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thirty: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thirty: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thirty: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thirty 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.