Best PlacesFrontier County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Frontier 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.
Frontier County ranks 1,387th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Frontier 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.
Frontier County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Frontier County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 127 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of counties
Where Frontier County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Frontier County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Frontier County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,971, 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 Frontier County's effective rate of 1.41%, 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 Frontier County
Frontier County 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 Frontier County.
Who works in Frontier County, and how
Work in Frontier County centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Frontier County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Frontier County.
Is Frontier County growing, and who is moving in?
Frontier County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Phelps County, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Frontier County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Frontier County, month by month
Frontier County sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 69° | 51° | 37° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 65° |
| October | 70° | 52° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Frontier County
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 231 miles away.
The best schools in and around Frontier County
Schools across Frontier County average a C+, better than 57% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mc Cook Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Medicine Valley ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Cambridge Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mc Cook Junior High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Cambridge Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Norton Jr HighD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Mc Cook Senior High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Southwest Jr/sr High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Cambridge High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Frontier County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Frontier 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 Frontier County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Frontier County
Is Frontier County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Frontier County ranks 1,387th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and health care access, and lowest on internet speeds 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 Frontier County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $148,143. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $67,971 median income, cost of living beats 69% of counties.
Is Frontier County safe?
Yes, Frontier County is safer than 56% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $306 per resident a year.
Compare Frontier County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Frontier County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Frontier 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.
Frontier County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Frontier County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Frontier County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Frontier County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Frontier County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Frontier 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.