Best PlacesArnold, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Arnold, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Arnold ranks 5,457th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Arnold
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.
Arnold's strengths and weaknesses
Where Arnold ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 132 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of towns
Where Arnold ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 29% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 39% of towns
- Cheap childcare$848 a month, better than only 44% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Arnold
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arnold home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,686, 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 Arnold's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Arnold
Arnold's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Arnold.
Who works in Arnold, and how
Work in Arnold centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Arnold
Arnold has more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Arnold and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Arnold, month by month
Arnold sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 65° | 48° | 35° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 50° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Arnold
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 223 miles away.
The best schools in and around Arnold
Schools across Arnold average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Arnold Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Brady Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Callaway Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Arnold High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Anselmo-merna High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Callaway High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Arnold school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arnold 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 Arnold against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Arnold
Is Arnold a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arnold ranks 5,457th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and walkability, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Arnold expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $168,379. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $76,686 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Arnold safe?
Yes, Arnold is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $270 per resident a year.
Compare Arnold with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arnold. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arnold 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.
Arnold detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arnold: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arnold: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arnold: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arnold: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arnold 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.