Best PlacesBoone County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Boone County, 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.
Boone County ranks 959th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Boone County
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.
Boone County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Boone County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
- Short commute17.8 minutes each way, better than 88% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of counties
Where Boone County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 27% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 73 pleasant days a year, better than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Boone County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Boone County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,475, 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 Boone County'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 Boone County
Boone County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Boone County.
Who works in Boone County, and how
Work in Boone County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Boone County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Boone County.
Is Boone County growing, and who is moving in?
Boone County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux Falls, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Boone County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Boone County, month by month
Boone County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 64° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 65° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Boone County
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Boone County
Schools across Boone County average a B, better than 80% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Newman Grove Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Boone Central Elem-albionA · 63% proficient
- Elkhorn Valley Elementary SchB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sergeant Bluff-luton Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- West Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Boone Central Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Sergeant Bluff-luton Senior High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Newman Grove High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Boone Central High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Boone County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Boone County 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 Boone County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Boone County
Is Boone County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Boone County ranks 959th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, civic engagement, and short commutes, 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 Boone County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,575. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $76,475 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Boone County safe?
Boone County is safer than 38% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
Compare Boone County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Boone County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Boone County 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.
Boone County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Boone County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Boone County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Boone County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Boone County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Boone County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.