Best PlacesDawson County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dawson County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dawson County ranks 1,241st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dawson 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.
The best areas in Dawson County
The parts of Dawson County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Gothenburg
More adults hold degrees, health care is easier to reach, and crime runs lower.
Cozad
Fewer homes sit empty.
Lexington
More households have young kids and prices have run up less.
Scores across Dawson County run from about the 19th to the 87th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Dawson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dawson County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Short commute17.5 minutes each way, better than 89% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of counties
Where Dawson County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dawson County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dawson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,994, 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 Dawson County's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dawson County
Dawson County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dawson County.
Who works in Dawson County, and how
Work in Dawson County centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dawson County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dawson County.
Is Dawson County growing, and who is moving in?
Dawson County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Providence, RI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dawson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dawson County, month by month
Dawson County sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 36° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 67° | 51° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Dawson County
The nearest airport, Kearney Regional, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 209 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dawson County
Schools across Dawson County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Almena ElemA+ · 75% proficient
- Elm Creek Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Dudley Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cozad Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Lexington Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Gothenburg Secondary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Elm Creek High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Callaway High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dawson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dawson 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 Dawson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dawson County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties and 3% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dawson County
Is Dawson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dawson County ranks 1,241st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and a stable housing market, and lowest on noise and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dawson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $173,457. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $75,994 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Dawson County safe?
Dawson County is safer than 29% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $420 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dawson County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 17. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dawson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Gothenburg, Cozad, and Lexington. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Dawson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dawson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dawson 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.
Dawson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dawson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dawson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dawson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dawson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dawson 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.