Best PlacesElba, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elba, 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.
Elba ranks 26,300th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elba
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.
Elba's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elba ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 78% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 76% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 111 pleasant days a year, better than 75% of towns
Where Elba ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 24% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elba
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elba home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,155, 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 Elba's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elba
Elba 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 Elba.
Who works in Elba, and how
Work in Elba centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Elba
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elba.
What the weather is like in Elba, month by month
Elba sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 68° | 51° | 36° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 53° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Elba
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 141 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elba
Schools across Elba average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Westwood Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- St Paul Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Loup City Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Monona Middle SchA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Westwood High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- West Harrison Middle School/high SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Northwest High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elba school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elba 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 Elba against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elba
Is Elba a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elba ranks 26,300th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, state infrastructure, 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 Elba expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,312. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $68,155 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Elba safe?
Yes, Elba is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.
Compare Elba with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elba. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elba 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.
Elba detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elba: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elba: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elba: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elba: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elba 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.