Best PlacesHavens, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Havens, 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.
Havens ranks 37,212th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Havens
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.
Havens' strengths and weaknesses
Where Havens ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Short commute21.5 minutes each way, better than 82% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 114 pleasant days a year, better than 77% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 70% of towns
Where Havens ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Havens
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Havens home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,713, 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 Havens' effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Havens
Havens 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 Havens.
Who works in Havens, and how
Work in Havens centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Havens
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Havens.
What the weather is like in Havens, month by month
Havens sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 65° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Havens
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Havens
Schools across Havens average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cross County Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Osceola Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Fullerton Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cross County Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Osceola Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Osceola High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- West Harrison Middle School/high SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Cross County High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Havens school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Havens 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 Havens against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Havens
Is Havens a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Havens ranks 37,212th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on biking and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Havens expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,877. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $58,713 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is Havens safe?
Havens is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $293 per resident a year.
Compare Havens with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Havens. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Havens 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.
Havens detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Havens: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Havens: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Havens: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Havens: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Havens 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.