Best PlacesWapello County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wapello 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.
Wapello County ranks 1,139th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wapello 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.
Wapello County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wapello County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- TransitBetter than 85% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of counties
- BikingBetter than 80% of counties
Where Wapello County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 25% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 29% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 37% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wapello County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wapello County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,858, 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 Wapello County's effective rate of 1.52%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wapello County
Wapello County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wapello County.
Who works in Wapello County, and how
Work in Wapello 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 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Wapello County
Wapello County has more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wapello County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wapello County growing, and who is moving in?
Wapello County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Iowa City, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wapello County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wapello County, month by month
Wapello County sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Wapello County
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 64 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 170 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wapello County
Schools across Wapello County average a B−, better than 69% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Eisenhower Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Pekin Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Horace Mann Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cardinal Junior HighA− · 55% proficient
- Evans Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Pekin Community Junior/ Senior High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Eddyville-blakesburg-fremont Jr/sr HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Ottumwa High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wapello County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wapello 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 Wapello County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Wapello County suits
Common questions about living in Wapello County
Is Wapello County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wapello County ranks 1,139th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, low disaster risk, and transit, 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 Wapello County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $133,536. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $64,858 median income, cost of living beats 50% of counties.
Is Wapello County safe?
Yes, Wapello County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $286 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wapello County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 17. That works out to about 98 pleasant days a year, more than 59% of counties.
Is Wapello County good for families?
Schools beat 69% of counties, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $721 a month.
Compare Wapello County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wapello County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wapello 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.
Wapello County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wapello County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wapello County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wapello County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wapello County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wapello 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.