Best PlacesElsmere, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elsmere, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Elsmere ranks 29,388th 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 Elsmere
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.
Elsmere's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elsmere ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute13.4 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
Where Elsmere ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elsmere
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elsmere home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,492, 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 Elsmere's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elsmere
Elsmere runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elsmere.
Who works in Elsmere, and how
Work in Elsmere centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in Elsmere
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elsmere.
What the weather is like in Elsmere, month by month
Elsmere sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 61° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Elsmere
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 89 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 232 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elsmere
Schools across Elsmere average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ainsworth Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Thedford Elem Attendance CntrB− · 40% proficient
- Elementary School At HalseyB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ainsworth Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Ainsworth High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- High School At DunningB+ · 52% proficient
- Thedford High SchoolB · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elsmere school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elsmere 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 Elsmere against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elsmere
Is Elsmere a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elsmere ranks 29,388th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elsmere expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,709. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $54,492 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Elsmere safe?
Elsmere is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $482 per resident a year.
Compare Elsmere with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elsmere. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elsmere 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.
Elsmere detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elsmere: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elsmere: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elsmere: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elsmere: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elsmere 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.