Best PlacesUnion County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Union 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.
Union County ranks 1,036th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Union 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.
Union County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Union County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of counties
- Short commute15.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of counties
Where Union County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Union County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Union County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,028, 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 Union County's effective rate of 1.57%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Union County
Union County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Union County.
Who works in Union County, and how
Work in Union County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Union County
Union County has more parkland per resident than 93% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Union County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Union County growing, and who is moving in?
Union County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Des Moines, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Union County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Union County, month by month
Union County sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Union County
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Union County
Schools across Union County average an A−, better than 93% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lenox Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- East Union ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Orient Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winterset Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Interstate 35 Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Creston Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Mount Ayr High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Creston High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- East Union Middle-high SchoolA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Union County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Union 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 Union County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Union County
Is Union County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Union County ranks 1,036th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, short commutes, and good schools, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Union County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,308. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $60,028 median income, cost of living beats 38% of counties.
Is Union County safe?
Yes, Union County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $252 per resident a year.
Compare Union County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Union County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Union 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.
Union County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Union County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Union County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Union County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Union County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Union 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.