Best PlacesHall County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hall 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.
Hall County ranks 1,104th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hall 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.
Hall County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hall County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of counties
- Short commute17.5 minutes each way, better than 89% of counties
- BikingBetter than 84% of counties
Where Hall County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hall County
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hall County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,294, 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 Hall County's effective rate of 1.30%, 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 Hall County
Hall County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hall County.
Who works in Hall County, and how
Work in Hall County 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 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hall County
Hall County has more parkland per resident than 79% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Hall County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hall County growing, and who is moving in?
Hall County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Omaha, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hall County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hall County, month by month
Hall County sees roughly 106 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 Hall County
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hall County
Schools across Hall County average a C, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Aurora Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Centura Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Cedar Hollow SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westridge Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Aurora Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Wood River Rural Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Kenesaw Secondary SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Wood River Rural High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Centura Secondary SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hall County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hall 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 Hall County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hall County suits
Families
Schools land around the 45th percentile and crime safety beats 63%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hall County
Is Hall County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hall County ranks 1,104th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, few empty homes, and walkability, and lowest on noise and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hall County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $227,455. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $70,294 median income, cost of living beats 60% of counties.
Is Hall County safe?
Yes, Hall County is safer than 63% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $309 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hall County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 16. That works out to about 106 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of counties.
Is Hall County good for families?
Schools beat 45% of counties, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $848 a month.
Compare Hall County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hall County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hall 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.
Hall County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hall County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hall County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hall County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hall County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hall 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.