Best PlacesWarren County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Warren County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Warren County ranks 43rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Warren 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.
The best areas in Warren County
The parts of Warren County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Norwalk
Biking is better, crime runs lower, and advertised internet is faster.
Indianola
Streets are more walkable, though fewer households have young kids.
Carlisle
Prices have run up less, though more homes sit empty.
Scores across Warren County run from about the 46th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Warren County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Warren County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of counties
Where Warren County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 34% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 35% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 82 pleasant days a year, better than only 42% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 43% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Warren County
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Warren County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,189, 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 Warren County's effective rate of 1.42%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Warren County
Warren 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 Warren County.
Who works in Warren County, and how
Work in Warren County centers on finance & insurance and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Warren County
Warren County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Warren County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Warren County growing, and who is moving in?
Warren County has grown about 18% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Des Moines, IA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Warren County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Warren County, month by month
Warren County sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Warren County
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Warren County
Schools across Warren County average an A, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Martensdale Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Orchard Hills ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Irving Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indianola Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Norwalk Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Pleasantville Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Norwalk Senior High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Pleasantville High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Southeast Warren Jr-sr High SchoolA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Warren County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Warren 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 Warren County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Warren County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Warren County
Is Warren County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Warren County ranks 43rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, what local pay buys, 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 Warren County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $288,537. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $95,189 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Warren County safe?
Yes, Warren County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $151 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Warren County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 15. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Warren County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Norwalk, Indianola, and Carlisle. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Warren County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Warren County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Warren 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.
Warren County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Warren County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Warren County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Warren County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Warren County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Warren 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.