Best PlacesWhite Elm, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Elm, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
White Elm ranks 7,507th 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 White Elm
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.
White Elm's strengths and weaknesses
Where White Elm ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$114,219 median, better than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
Where White Elm ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Short commute38.7 minutes each way, better than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 13% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in White Elm
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Elm home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $114,219, 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 White Elm's effective rate of 1.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in White Elm
White Elm runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for White Elm.
Who works in White Elm, and how
Work in White Elm centers on retail trade and finance & insurance. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in White Elm
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across White Elm.
What the weather is like in White Elm, month by month
White Elm sees roughly 101 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° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of White Elm
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 169 miles away.
The best schools in and around White Elm
Schools across White Elm average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cardinal ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Davis County ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Van Buren County Community School District Douds CenterB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Davis County Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Cardinal Junior HighA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Van Buren County Community Middle & High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Davis County Community High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Elm school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Elm 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 White Elm against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in White Elm
Is White Elm a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Elm ranks 7,507th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, what local pay buys, and state finances, and lowest on property taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is White Elm expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $265,072. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $114,219 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is White Elm safe?
Yes, White Elm is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $233 per resident a year.
Compare White Elm with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Elm. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Elm 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.
White Elm detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Elm: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Elm: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Elm: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Elm: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Elm 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.