Best PlacesWaukon Junction, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waukon Junction, 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 Junction ranks 27,729th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Waukon Junction
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 Junction's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waukon Junction ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of towns
Where Waukon Junction ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute33.4 minutes each way, better than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waukon Junction
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waukon Junction home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,659, 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 Junction's effective rate of 0.80%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Waukon Junction
Waukon Junction 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 Junction.
Who works in Waukon Junction, and how
Work in Waukon Junction centers on other services and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Waukon Junction
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Waukon Junction.
What the weather is like in Waukon Junction, month by month
Waukon Junction sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Waukon Junction
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 156 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waukon Junction
Schools across Waukon Junction average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mfl Marmac Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waukon Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Waukon High SchoolA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waukon Junction school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waukon Junction 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 Junction against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waukon Junction
Is Waukon Junction a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waukon Junction ranks 27,729th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on noise 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 Junction expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,300. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $64,659 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Waukon Junction safe?
Yes, Waukon Junction is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $155 per resident a year.
Compare Waukon Junction with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waukon Junction. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waukon Junction 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 Junction detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waukon Junction: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waukon Junction: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waukon Junction: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waukon Junction: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waukon Junction 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.