Best PlacesAlda, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alda, 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.
Alda ranks 16,008th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Alda
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.
Alda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alda ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 85% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 84% of towns
Where Alda ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Alda
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,093, 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 Alda's effective rate of 1.20%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alda
Alda runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alda.
Who works in Alda, and how
Work in Alda centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Alda
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Alda.
What the weather is like in Alda, month by month
Alda sees roughly 106 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 68° | 51° | 36° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 53° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Alda
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 137 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alda
Schools across Alda average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cedar Hollow SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Shoemaker Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Wood River Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westridge Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Wood River Rural Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Wood River Rural High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Northwest High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Grand Island Senior High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alda school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alda 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 Alda against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Alda
Is Alda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alda ranks 16,008th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, state infrastructure, and a strong job market, and lowest on noise and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,135. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $91,093 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is Alda safe?
Alda is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $530 per resident a year.
Compare Alda with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alda 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.
Alda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alda 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.