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City

Cedar Rapids

#12 in Best Cities to Buy a House in America
  • A-
    Overall Grade
  • City in Iowa
  • 317 reviews
A-
Overall Niche Grade
How are grades calculated?
  1. Public Schools
    B+
  2. Crime & Safety
    C
  3. Housing
    B+
  4. Nightlife
    A-
  5. Good for Families
    B+
  6. Diversity
    B+
  7. Jobs
    B+
  8. Weather
    B-
  9. Cost of Living
    A-
  10. Health & Fitness
    B
  11. Outdoor Activities
    B-
  12. Commute
    A-
View Full Report Card
Cedar Rapids is a city in Iowa with a population of 130,330. Cedar Rapids is in Linn County and is one of the best places to live in Iowa. Living in Cedar Rapids offers residents a suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Cedar Rapids there are a lot of bars and parks. Many families and young professionals live in Cedar Rapids and residents tend to lean conservative. The public schools in Cedar Rapids are above average.
About Cedar Rapids...
Population
130,330

Real Estate

Median Home Value
$138,500
National
$184,700
Median Rent
$729
National
$949
Area Feel
Suburban
Rent vs. Own
  • Rent
    30%
  • Own
    70%
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Cedar Rapids Rankings

Niche rankings are based on rigorous analysis of key statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and millions of reviews.

Crime & Safety

Crime & Safety
C
Based on violent and property crime rates.
Violent Crimes
  • Calculated annually per 100,000 residents
National
  • Assault
    158.5
    282.7
  • Murder
    4.5
    6.1
  • Rape
    25.8
    40.7
  • Robbery
    91.8
    135.5
Property Crimes
  • Calculated annually per 100,000 residents
National
  • Burglary
    704.4
    500.1
  • Theft
    2,791.2
    2,042.8
  • Motor Vehicle Theft
    259.3
    284
Home Security Options for Cedar Rapids
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  • 24/7 Whole home protection with no contract
  • CNET Editor’s choice winner 2018

Residents

Diversity
B+
Based on ethnic and economic diversity.
Age
  • <10 years
    13%
  • 10-17 years
    10%
  • 18-24 years
    11%
  • 25-34 years
    15%
  • 35-44 years
    13%
  • 45-54 years
    12%
  • 55-64 years
    12%
  • 65+ years
    14%
Education Levels
National
  • Master's degree or higher
    10%
    12%
  • Bachelor's degree
    22%
    19%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    35%
    29%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    27%
    28%
  • Less than high school diploma
    6%
    13%
  • Public Schools
  • Private Schools
  • Colleges

Working in Cedar Rapids

Jobs
B+
Based on employment rates, job and business growth, and cost of living.
Median Household Income
$56,828
National
$55,322
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Cedar Rapids Reviews

317 reviews
All Categories
I've lived in Cedar Rapids for my entire life. Although I admittedly haven't explored every nook and cranny, especially because I live on the outer edge of town, several spots stick out to me. We have an OrangeLeaf, a Noodles and Company, and Roscoe's Pizza fairly close to us. The former two are franchises, of course, but the employees and general manager respectively are very helpful and caring. The latter is an independent restaurant, formerly a Tomaso's franchise. Jason there is also very kind and even helped us develop a pizza that featured on the menu once he opened Roscoe's!
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The heart of Cedar Rapids offers many, often newly developed, venues for residents such as a fantastic library, Newbo City Market/local business district, frequent farmer's markets, and active arts scene including multiple theatres and outdoor areas. The encompassing area offers lots of suburban areas with the Cedar Valley trail inviting cyclists and walkers to visit nearby northern and southern towns. The weather can sometimes be bothersome in the summer and winter with a wide range of temperatures and humidity, but in my personal opinion, fall and spring are exceptional. Local recreation areas showcase the changing of seasons and nearby Bloomsberry Farm becomes a must-visit during October as seasonal daytime activities attract families and nighttime 'haunted' attractions with real actors draw visitors who enjoy the thrill of an Iowan farm late at night.
Cedar Rapids is definitely one of the fast delveloping cities from what I have seen. There are lots of friends/family events anyone can join! I especially like their farmers market in downtown. Many different vendors and many choices! It is a bit small than Des Moines downtown farmers market, but still a pretty big size of farmers market than Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty area.
I am thinking that if they get more private/public company offices in downtown area, it will become like miniature chicago downtown in the future! Maybe this is just what i am hoping? 😁
Another thing I like about Cedar Rapids is that the city is not too far from other cities. It takes about 30 mins to iowa city/coralville, 45mins to waterloo, 20mins to Anamosa.