Best PlacesCrofton, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Crofton, 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.
Crofton ranks 7,559th 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 Crofton
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.
Crofton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Crofton ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute19.3 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
Where Crofton ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Crofton
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Crofton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,652, 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 Crofton's effective rate of 1.09%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Crofton
Crofton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Crofton.
Who works in Crofton, and how
Work in Crofton centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Crofton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Crofton.
What the weather is like in Crofton, month by month
Crofton sees roughly 123 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 Crofton
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Crofton
Schools across Crofton average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bloomfield Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Crofton Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Hartington-newcastle Elem At HartingtonB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Crofton High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Bloomfield Jr-sr High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Hartington Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Crofton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Crofton 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 Crofton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Crofton
Is Crofton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Crofton ranks 7,559th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and low crime, 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 Crofton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,585. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $82,652 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Crofton safe?
Yes, Crofton is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $185 per resident a year.
Compare Crofton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Crofton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Crofton 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.
Crofton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Crofton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Crofton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Crofton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Crofton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Crofton 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.