Living in Waukee, IA
Suburb in Iowa
Waukee is a suburb in Iowa, home to about 27,000 people, with 629,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, a car is essential. Life moves at a slow, calm pace, and homes are a mix of apartments and houses.
Is Waukee a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Safe: violent crime is 0.2× the US rate (FBI 2019)
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $317k and rents for $1,790 a month
- Strong public schools: test results well above the US average
- Mild summers: highs around 84°F
👎 Cons
- Quieter on culture: few museums and attractions nearby
- Fewer outdoor escapes: no big hills or water close by
- Smaller job market: about 629,000 people live within 31 mi
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Waukee ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Waukee: common questions
What is the cost of living in Waukee?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $317k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,790 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 92, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Waukee?
Iowa collects about $1,192 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 1.6% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Waukee safe?
Violent crime is well below the national rate (0.2× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Waukee?
Public schools in Waukee test well above the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 16 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Waukee?
Waukee has cold winters: winter days average around 34°F and summer days around 84°F, with roughly 37″ of snow a year.
Does Waukee get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from flooding and tornadoes: 10 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.74 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Waukee?
The nearest major airport is DSM, about 12 mi away.
How Waukee scores
Each bar compares Waukee with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Waukee
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in Iowa.
Is Waukee right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.