Best PlacesHallam, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hallam, 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.
Hallam ranks 3,365th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hallam
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.
Hallam's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hallam ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of towns
Where Hallam ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,074 a month, better than only 21% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 25% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 43% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hallam
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hallam home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $115,353, 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 Hallam's effective rate of 1.42%, 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 Hallam
Hallam runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hallam.
Who works in Hallam, and how
Work in Hallam centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hallam
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hallam.
What the weather is like in Hallam, month by month
Hallam sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 67° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Hallam
The nearest airport, Lincoln, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 70 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hallam
Schools across Hallam average a C+, better than 51% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Norris Intermediate SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Hanover ElemB · 45% proficient
- Elementary School At WilberC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Norris Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Crete Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Norris High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Wilber-clatonia High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Tri County Jr-sr High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hallam school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hallam 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 Hallam against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hallam
Is Hallam a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hallam ranks 3,365th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, few empty homes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on tree cover and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hallam expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $281,117. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $115,353 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Hallam safe?
Yes, Hallam is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $165 per resident a year.
Compare Hallam with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hallam. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hallam 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.
Hallam detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hallam: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hallam: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hallam: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hallam: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hallam 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.