Best PlacesWest Chester, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Chester, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Chester ranks 8,004th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Chester
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.
West Chester's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Chester ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of towns
Where West Chester ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 30% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Chester
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Chester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,484, 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 West Chester's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 West Chester
West Chester's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 West Chester.
Who works in West Chester, and how
Work in West Chester centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, 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 4%
Life in West Chester
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Chester.
What the weather is like in West Chester, month by month
West Chester sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of West Chester
The nearest airport, The Eastern Iowa, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 195 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Chester
Schools across West Chester average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mid-prairie West Elem. SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Keota Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mid-prairie Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Washington Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Mid-prairie High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Keota High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Washington High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Chester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Chester 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 West Chester against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Chester
Is West Chester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Chester ranks 8,004th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and low crime, and lowest on tree cover and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Chester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $266,497. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $80,484 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is West Chester safe?
Yes, West Chester is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $184 per resident a year.
Compare West Chester with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Chester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Chester 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.
West Chester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Chester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Chester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Chester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Chester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Chester 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.