Best PlacesGrand Island, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Grand Island metro, 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.
Photo by highsmith, carol m., Public domain (Carol M. Highsmith Archive), via loc
Grand Island ranks 215th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on state finances and short commutes. The weaker spots are noise, distance from a big city, and tree cover.
The best neighborhoods in the Grand Island metro
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 Grand Island
The towns and districts of the Grand Island metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
St. Paul
It is quieter, more residents vote, and schools score higher.
Downtown Grand Island
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Central City
Health care is easier to reach, though fewer households have young kids.
Scores across Grand Island run from about the 9th to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Grand Island's strengths and weaknesses
Grand Island lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State finances is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Short commutes and few empty homes follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Distance from a big city and tree cover also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Grand Island ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Short commute18.6 minutes each way, better than 94% of metro areas
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than 84% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of metro areas
Where Grand Island ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- Big-city accessBetter than only 5% of metro areas
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of metro areas
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than only 13% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Grand Island
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grand Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,693, 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 Grand Island's effective rate of 1.26%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grand Island
Grand Island's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Grand Island.
Who works in Grand Island, and how
Work in Grand Island centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Grand Island
Grand Island has more parkland per resident than 69% of metro areas and more late-night spots per resident than 76% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Grand Island and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Grand Island growing, and who is moving in?
Grand Island has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Omaha, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Grand Island go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Grand Island, month by month
Grand Island sees roughly 107 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 Grand Island
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grand Island
Schools across Grand Island average a C+, better than 42% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Aurora Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Cedar Hollow SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Engleman Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westridge Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Aurora Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Central City Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Wood River Rural High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Aurora High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Doniphan-trumbull SecondaryB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grand Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grand Island 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 Grand Island against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Grand Island suits
Families
Schools land around the 42nd percentile and crime safety beats 68%.
Common questions about living in Grand Island
Is Grand Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grand Island ranks 215th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and few empty homes, and lowest on noise 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 Grand Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $220,668. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $70,693 median income, cost of living beats 36% of metro areas.
Is Grand Island safe?
Yes, Grand Island is safer than 68% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Grand Island?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 16. That works out to about 107 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Grand Island?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are St. Paul, Downtown Grand Island, and Central City. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Grand Island good for families?
Schools beat 42% of metro areas, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $848 a month.
Is Grand Island good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 36% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 24% of metro areas. About 6% of workers already work from home.
Compare Grand Island with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grand Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grand Island 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.
Grand Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grand Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grand Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grand Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grand Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grand Island 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.