Best PlacesWaukon, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waukon, 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.
Waukon ranks 5,739th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Waukon
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.
Waukon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waukon ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 92% of towns
Where Waukon ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 27% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 35% of towns
- Household income$65,485 median, better than only 38% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waukon
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waukon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,485, 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 Waukon's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waukon
Waukon 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 Waukon.
Who works in Waukon, and how
Work in Waukon centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Waukon
Waukon has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns and more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Waukon and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Waukon, month by month
Waukon sees roughly 142 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Waukon
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 141 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waukon
Schools across Waukon average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Campus Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Carrie Lee ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Mfl Marmac Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Decorah Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Waukon Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Decorah High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Waukon High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Mfl Marmac HsA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waukon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waukon 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 Waukon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waukon
Is Waukon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waukon ranks 5,739th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, walkability, and state finances, and lowest on property taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waukon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,255. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $65,485 median income, cost of living beats 41% of towns.
Is Waukon safe?
Yes, Waukon is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $182 per resident a year.
Compare Waukon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waukon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waukon 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.
Waukon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waukon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waukon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waukon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waukon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waukon 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.