Best PlacesCuming County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cuming 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.
Cuming County ranks 462nd 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 Cuming 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.
Cuming County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cuming County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of counties
- Short commute18.1 minutes each way, better than 87% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of counties
Where Cuming County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 31% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 35% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cuming County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cuming County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,604, 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 Cuming County's effective rate of 1.12%, 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 Cuming County
Cuming County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Cuming County.
Who works in Cuming County, and how
Work in Cuming County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Cuming County
Cuming County has more parkland per resident than 81% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cuming County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cuming County growing, and who is moving in?
Cuming County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lincoln, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cuming County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cuming County, month by month
Cuming County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Cuming County
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cuming County
Schools across Cuming County average an A−, better than 88% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pender Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Westwood Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Logan View ElementaryA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Monona Middle SchA · 60% proficient
- West Point - Beemer Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Westwood High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Howells Senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- West Monona High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cuming County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cuming 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 Cuming County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Cuming County
Is Cuming County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cuming County ranks 462nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and short commutes, and lowest on tree cover and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cuming County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,581. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $72,604 median income, cost of living beats 69% of counties.
Is Cuming County safe?
Yes, Cuming County is safer than 66% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $292 per resident a year.
Compare Cuming County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cuming County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cuming 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.
Cuming County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cuming County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cuming County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cuming County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cuming County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cuming 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.