Best PlacesVolga, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Volga, 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.
Volga ranks 11,615th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Volga
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.
Volga's strengths and weaknesses
Where Volga ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 129 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
Where Volga ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 18% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 25% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Volga
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Volga home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,561, 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 Volga's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 Volga
Volga 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 Volga.
Who works in Volga, and how
Work in Volga centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Volga
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Volga.
What the weather is like in Volga, month by month
Volga sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Volga
The nearest airport, Waterloo Regional, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 165 miles away.
The best schools in and around Volga
Schools across Volga average an A−, better than 89% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Valley Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Starmont Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Fayette Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Clayton Ridge Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Starmont Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Clayton Ridge High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Central Middle School/high SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Starmont High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Volga school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Volga 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 Volga against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Volga
Is Volga a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Volga ranks 11,615th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and good schools, and lowest on cell coverage and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Volga expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $162,831. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $69,561 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Volga safe?
Yes, Volga is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $260 per resident a year.
Compare Volga with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Volga. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Volga 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.
Volga detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Volga: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Volga: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Volga: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Volga: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Volga 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.