Best Places68928, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 68928, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
68928 ranks 15,648th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 68928
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.
68928's strengths and weaknesses
Where 68928 ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 68928 ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 68928
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 68928 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,766, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 68928's effective rate of 1.37%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 68928
68928 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 68928.
Who works in 68928, and how
Work in 68928 centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 68928
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 68928.
What the weather is like in 68928, month by month
68928 sees roughly 110 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 68928
The nearest airport, Kearney Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 158 miles away.
The best schools in and around 68928
Schools across 68928 average a B, better than 66% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Blue Hill Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Silver Lake Elem Sch-bladenB · 45% proficient
- Red Cloud Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Blue Hill High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Red Cloud High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Silver Lake High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 68928 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
68928 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 68928 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 68928
Is 68928 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 68928 ranks 15,648th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state finances, a strong job market, and a stable housing market, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 68928 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,517. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $84,766 median income, cost of living beats 84% of zip codes.
Is 68928 safe?
68928 is safer than 21% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $444 per resident a year.
Compare 68928 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 68928. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 68928 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.
68928 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 68928: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 68928: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 68928: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 68928: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
68928 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.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- 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.