Best PlacesWright, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wright, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wright ranks 14,671st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wright
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.
Wright's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wright ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 84% of towns
- Short commute21.1 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
Where Wright ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wright
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wright home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,467, 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 Wright's effective rate of 1.20%, 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 Wright
Wright runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wright.
Who works in Wright, and how
Work in Wright centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. 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 2%
Life in Wright
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wright.
What the weather is like in Wright, month by month
Wright sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Wright
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 174 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wright
Schools across Wright average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oskaloosa Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Eddyville ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oskaloosa Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Oskaloosa High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Eddyville-blakesburg-fremont Jr/sr HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wright school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wright 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 Wright against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wright
Is Wright a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wright ranks 14,671st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, few empty homes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on the weather and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wright expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,779. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $73,467 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Wright safe?
Yes, Wright is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
Compare Wright with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wright. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wright 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.
Wright detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wright: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wright: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wright: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wright: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wright 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.