Best PlacesCedar County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cedar 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.
Cedar County ranks 546th 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 Cedar 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.
Cedar County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cedar County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
- Short commute18.8 minutes each way, better than 85% of counties
- QuietBetter than 84% of counties
Where Cedar County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cedar County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cedar County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,056, 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 Cedar 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 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 Cedar County
Cedar 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 Cedar County.
Who works in Cedar County, and how
Work in Cedar County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cedar County
Cedar County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of counties and more parkland per resident than 93% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cedar County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cedar County growing, and who is moving in?
Cedar County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux City, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cedar County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cedar County, month by month
Cedar County sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 21° | 13° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Cedar County
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cedar County
Schools across Cedar County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Akron Westfield Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Bloomfield Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Wayne Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Akron Westfield Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- West Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Wayne Junior High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Wynot High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Wayne High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Akron Westfield Senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cedar County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cedar 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 Cedar County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Cedar County
Is Cedar County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cedar County ranks 546th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, health care access, and civic engagement, 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 Cedar County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,196. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $75,056 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Cedar County safe?
Yes, Cedar County is safer than 66% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $288 per resident a year.
Compare Cedar County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cedar County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cedar 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.
Cedar County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cedar County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cedar County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cedar County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cedar County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cedar 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.