Best PlacesWinneshiek County, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Winneshiek County, 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.
Winneshiek County ranks 86th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Winneshiek 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.
Winneshiek County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Winneshiek County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of counties
Where Winneshiek County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 37% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 40% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Winneshiek County
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Winneshiek County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,249, 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 Winneshiek County's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 Winneshiek County
Winneshiek County 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 Winneshiek County.
Who works in Winneshiek County, and how
Work in Winneshiek County centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Winneshiek County
Winneshiek County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of counties and more parkland per resident than 98% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Winneshiek County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Winneshiek County growing, and who is moving in?
Winneshiek County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Howard County, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Winneshiek County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Winneshiek County, month by month
Winneshiek County 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 Winneshiek County
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Winneshiek County
Schools across Winneshiek County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Turkey Valley Elementary SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Carrie Lee ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Crestwood Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Decorah Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Waukon Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- South Winneshiek Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Decorah High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Waukon High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- South Winneshiek High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Winneshiek County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Winneshiek 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 Winneshiek County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Winneshiek County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of counties and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 89% of counties, health care access beats 96%, and it is quieter than 80%.
Common questions about living in Winneshiek County
Is Winneshiek County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Winneshiek County ranks 86th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on internet speeds and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Winneshiek County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $262,463. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $83,249 median income, cost of living beats 83% of counties.
Is Winneshiek County safe?
Yes, Winneshiek County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Winneshiek County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 13. That works out to about 142 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of counties.
Is Winneshiek County good for families?
Schools beat 98% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $686 a month.
Compare Winneshiek County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Winneshiek County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Winneshiek 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.
Winneshiek County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Winneshiek County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Winneshiek County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Winneshiek County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Winneshiek County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Winneshiek 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.