Best PlacesIowa Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Iowa area, 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.
Iowa ranks 6th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. It earns the spot by being affordable and steady rather than flashy: everyday costs run well below the national average, and crime is low. The trade is property taxes: the nearest large city and its jobs, flights, and culture are a drive away.
The best neighborhoods in Iowa
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.
The best areas in Iowa
The parts of Iowa, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Polk County & Story County
Warren County, Marion County & Mahaska County
Linn County & Johnson County
Woodbury County, Sioux County & Plymouth County
Black Hawk County & Dubuque County
Cerro Gordo County, Webster County & Floyd County
Scott County, Muscatine County & Des Moines County
Carroll County, Crawford County & Shelby County
Pottawattamie County
Iowa shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Iowa's strengths and weaknesses
Iowa ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Good schools, a stable housing market, and state finances are the strongest pieces.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, big-city access, and tree cover hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Iowa ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 95% of states
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of states
- State fiscal healthBetter than 93% of states
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of states
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of states
Where Iowa ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of states
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of states
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of states
- Household income$81,511 median, better than only 30% of states
- Health outlookBetter than only 31% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Iowa
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iowa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,511, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses Iowa's effective rate against the median home value.
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 Iowa
Iowa'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 Iowa.
Who works in Iowa, and how
Work in Iowa centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Iowa
Iowa has more parkland per resident than 92% of states. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Iowa, month by month
Iowa sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
The best schools in and around Iowa
Schools across Iowa average an A, better than 95% of states.
Top elementary schools
- West Bend-mallard Elementary SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Hopewell ElementaryA+ · 90% proficient
- Pleasant View Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pella Middle SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Denver Middle SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Gilbert Middle SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
Top high schools
- Gilbert High SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Van Meter High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Decorah High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iowa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iowa 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 Iowa against the other 49 states.
Who Iowa suits
Families
Schools beat 95% of the country and crime runs low. Compare areas on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of states and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Iowa
Is Iowa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iowa ranks 6th of 50 states. It scores highest on good schools, a stable housing market, and state finances, and lowest on property taxes and big-city access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Iowa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,440. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $81,511 median income, cost of living beats 71% of states.
Is Iowa safe?
Yes, Iowa is safer than 85% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Iowa?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 15. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
What are the best areas in Iowa?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Polk County & Story County, Warren County, Marion County & Mahaska County, and Linn County & Johnson County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Iowa good for families?
Schools beat 95% of states, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Is Iowa good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of states, and internet is widely advertised, so a big-employer salary stretches further here.
Compare Iowa with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iowa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iowa 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.
Iowa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iowa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iowa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iowa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iowa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iowa 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.
- 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.