Best PlacesCentral City, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Central City ranks 13,362nd 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 Central City
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.
Central City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central City ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute18.6 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
Where Central City ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Central City
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,464, 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 Central City's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 Central City
Central City 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 Central City.
Who works in Central City, and how
Work in Central City centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Central City
Central City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Central City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central City, month by month
Central City sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Central City
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 110 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central City
Schools across Central City average a B, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Palmer Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Fullerton Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Central City Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central City Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Fullerton High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- High Plains Community Jr/sr High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Central City High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central City 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 Central City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Central City
Is Central City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central City ranks 13,362nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and civic engagement, and lowest on noise and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,604. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $71,464 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Central City safe?
Yes, Central City is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.
Compare Central City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central City 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.
Central City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central City 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.