Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Iowa. Home to 40,710 people, the town was settled in 1903.
Trash day: look up yoursA good place to live, if you can afford it. Its strongest subject is incomes: the median household earns $100K. Overall, Bettendorf earns an A−, better than just over four fifths of U.S. towns. That places it 44th of 140 in Iowa. The trade-off is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $338K, 4.6 years of the Davenport metro’s $73K median household income. Only 18 of Iowa’s 276 towns score lower on history. Just over half of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more locally, above both Iowa’s towns (25%) and U.S. towns (29%). The town has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Joseph F. Bettendorf House and Bettendorf-Washington School.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Bettendorf beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Hopewell Elementary | PK–6 | 658 |
| Riverdale Heights Elem School | K–6 | 628 |
| Pleasant View Elementary School | K–6 | 621 |
| Widest gap | Bettendorf | IA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7% | 11.6% |
33,217 counted in 2010 and 39,102 in 2020; an estimated 40,710 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Bettendorf is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 909 in 1910, 39,102 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2003 and 5 maps from 1891 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bettendorf, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Bettendorf.
Bettendorf sends many workers across the state line to Rock Island, has less tooth loss than most of Iowa and has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of Iowa.
Bettendorf’s trail network density stands at 0.7 miles per square mile. Across 28 parks and preserves: 16 miles of trail. Crow Creek Park, at 142 acres with 5.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Bettendorf | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.9% | 3.1% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crow Creek Park | 5.1 mi | 142 |
| 2. Pigeon Creek Park | 0.7 mi | 40 |
| 3. Learning Campus | 0.4 mi | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Three of its 14 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Public schools: the Bettendorf Community School District. The 6 public schools in Bettendorf teach 3,152 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bettendorf Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 952 | A− |
| Bettendorf High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,433 | B+ |
| Hopewell ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 658 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
The median property tax bill is $4,394, against $2,897 across Iowa, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Values rose 6.4% in the 12 months to September 2026. On the market in Bettendorf: a median 28 days to sell. In Bettendorf, nearly a third of sales closed above the list price.
| Bettendorf | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 39% | 42% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,187 a month | $909 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 70% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with Iowa is tooth loss: 7% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 11.6% statewide.
31% of adults have high blood pressure in Bettendorf. Only 8 of the 140 Iowa towns we compare have a lower share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Bettendorf.
| Bettendorf | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 20% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 26% | 25% |
| What stands out | Bettendorf | IA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7% | 11.6% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.3% | 7.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
January nights average 14.4°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 93% of Iowa places with climate records; July afternoons average 84.4°.
Among 140 Iowa towns, just 8 have a higher January low than Bettendorf. About 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Bettendorf | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 14°F | 12°F | 22°F |
| July high | 84°F | 84°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes fell from 480 to 326 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 38 reported in 2025, 0.9 per 1,000 residents.
In Bettendorf, the violent crime rate is 0.9 per 1,000 residents. Its property crime rate comes in at 7.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Bettendorf | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
25% of working residents cross a state line to work, Rock Island among the top destinations.
Bettendorf had 14,021 jobs in 2023, up 1,177 from 2013. Commuting out is the norm here: 17% of working residents work locally. The share of residents in Bettendorf who live below the poverty line: 6.7%. For half of commuters, work is under 5 miles away.
| Bettendorf | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 31% | 8% |
| Median household income | $100,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.7% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
304 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 32 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1978, Bettendorf has seen 304 flood insurance claims paid out. Compared with 53% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage locally is higher. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 65% come from inland flooding and 8% from tornadoes. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bettendorf. Close and well known come first.
5 mi Ancient siteRock Island Arsenal
9 mi MuseumBlack Hawk State Historic Site
6 mi MuseumFigge Art Museum77K visitors a year
7 mi MuseumPutnam Museum9 mi Zoo & aquariumNiabi Zoo
5 mi GardenVander Veer Botanical ParkRock Island Arsenal: Robert A, Ryan, J. Ceronia, and Bruce A. Harms, Photographers, Public domain · Black Hawk State Historic Site: Bill Whittaker (talk). Original uploader was Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Figge Art Museum: Ctjf83, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Putnam Museum: Ctjf83 of English Wikipedia (log), Public domain · Vander Veer Botanical Park: David Wilson, CC BY 2.0
7 within 15 miles of the center of Bettendorf
About 3 of every 100 Bettendorf residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
4 places in Bettendorf on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Bettendorf.
City in Iowa, United States
Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 39,102 at the 2020 census. Bettendorf is one of the five cities that comprise the Quad Cities region along the Mississippi River. It is located adjacent to Davenport, Iowa, and across the river from Moline, East Moline, and Rock Island in Illinois. The Quad Cities metropolitan area had a population of 384,324 as of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Bettendorf.
| Town | IA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bettendorf | #44 | A− | C | B+ | A− | A− |
| Riverdale | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Davenport | #135 | D | B− | D | D− | C+ |
Riverdale isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bettendorf with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Bettendorf grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #44 of 140 in Iowa. It grades A− for health, B+ for safety and A− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
5 notable people were born here, including Eduvie Ikoba and Jack Fleck.
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