Best PlacesVan Buren County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Van Buren County, 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.
Van Buren County ranks 877th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Van Buren 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.
Van Buren County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Van Buren County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 96% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of counties
Where Van Buren County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 27% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 27% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Van Buren County
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Van Buren County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,785, 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 Van Buren County's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Van Buren County
Van Buren County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Van Buren County.
Who works in Van Buren County, and how
Work in Van Buren 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 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Van Buren County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Van Buren County.
Is Van Buren County growing, and who is moving in?
Van Buren County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jefferson County, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Van Buren County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Van Buren County, month by month
Van Buren County sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Van Buren County
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 161 miles away.
The best schools in and around Van Buren County
Schools across Van Buren County average an A−, better than 93% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Van Buren County Community School District Harmony CenterA · 65% proficient
- Salem Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Cardinal ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Lee Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Fairfield Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Mount Pleasant Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Lee High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Mount Pleasant High SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Van Buren County Community Middle & High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Van Buren County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Van Buren 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 Van Buren County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Van Buren County
Is Van Buren County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Van Buren County ranks 877th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, good schools, and low crime, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Van Buren County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $138,330. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $60,785 median income, cost of living beats 35% of counties.
Is Van Buren County safe?
Yes, Van Buren County is safer than 93% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $225 per resident a year.
Compare Van Buren County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Van Buren County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Van Buren 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.
Van Buren County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Van Buren County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Van Buren County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Van Buren County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Van Buren County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Van Buren 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.