Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pleasantville’s best subject grades are an A for cost of living and an A− for civic life. Only 27 of Iowa’s 276 towns score higher on hazard risk. The biggest park or preserve is Shadle Park, at 37 acres. Pleasantville has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Pleasantville beats most towns.
Where Pleasantville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Pleasantville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 449 in 1880, 1,676 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1957 and 2 maps from 1910 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pleasantville, 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 Pleasantville.
Most working residents leave Pleasantville for work: only 12% work in town. 4.1% of Pleasantville residents live below the poverty line, below both Iowa’s towns (11%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). The average trip to work in Pleasantville is 26 minutes.
| Pleasantville | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.1% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 31% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Pleasantville Community School District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasantville ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 456 | C+ |
| Pleasantville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 241 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Pleasantville since 2016.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Pleasantville has cold, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 13° and about 31 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Pleasantville home is worth about $268,000, up 2.4% in a year, 13% above the Iowa typical home. At $866 a month, Pleasantville’s median rent is near the Iowa town median ($911 a month) and below the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
| Pleasantville | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $866 a month | $911 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Pleasantville beats the Iowa average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 21% of Pleasantville adults binge drink.
| Pleasantville | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 20% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Pleasantville | IA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.3% | 11.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1.5 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Pleasantville’s trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Shadle Park | — | 37 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pleasantville. Close and well known come first.
23 mi Stadium & arenaCasey's Center
22 mi MuseumIowa State Capitol22 mi Theme parkAdventureland
20 mi Zoo & aquariumBlank Park Zoo
25 mi MuseumDes Moines Art Center
25 mi Stadium & arenaDrake StadiumCasey's Center: Iowahwyman at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Iowa State Capitol: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Blank Park Zoo: Lawrence Lansing, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Des Moines Art Center: Nhandler at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Drake Stadium: U.S. Navy photo by James Woods, Public domain
None within 15 miles of Pleasantville; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Pleasantville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
City in Iowa, United States
Pleasantville is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,676 at the time of the 2020 census. Pleasantville is most famous for being the corporate headquarters of Smokey Row Coffee.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
2 notable people were born here, including Isaac D. Young and Gary Blodgett.
