Best PlacesElkhorn, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elkhorn, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Elkhorn ranks 49th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elkhorn
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.
Elkhorn's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elkhorn ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 99% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of cities
- School gradeA+, better than 96% of cities
Where Elkhorn ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 47 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 13% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 16% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Elkhorn
A household needs to earn about $139,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elkhorn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $159,489, 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 Elkhorn's effective rate of 1.86%, 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 Elkhorn
Elkhorn runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elkhorn.
Who works in Elkhorn, and how
Work in Elkhorn centers on health care & social and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Elkhorn
Elkhorn has more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Elkhorn and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elkhorn, month by month
Elkhorn sees roughly 47 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Elkhorn
Eppley Airfield sits about 18 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Elkhorn
Schools across Elkhorn average an A+, better than 96% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Blue Sage ElementaryA+ · 88% proficient
- Fire Ridge Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Spring Ridge ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
Top middle schools
- Elkhorn Valley View Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Elkhorn Grandview Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Elkhorn Ridge Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Elkhorn South High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Elkhorn High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Millard West High SchoolA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elkhorn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elkhorn 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 Elkhorn against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Elkhorn suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 23% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Elkhorn
Is Elkhorn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elkhorn ranks 49th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, what local pay buys, and a strong job market, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elkhorn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $465,509. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $159,489 median income, cost of living beats 99% of cities.
Is Elkhorn safe?
Yes, Elkhorn is safer than 86% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $209 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elkhorn?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 19. That works out to about 47 pleasant days a year, more than 0% of cities.
Is Elkhorn good for families?
Schools beat 96% of cities, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $1,085 a month.
Compare Elkhorn with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elkhorn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elkhorn 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.
Elkhorn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elkhorn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elkhorn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elkhorn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elkhorn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elkhorn 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.