Best PlacesHooker County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hooker County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hooker County ranks 2,282nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hooker 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.
Hooker County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hooker County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Short commute14.4 minutes each way, better than 96% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 147 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of counties
Where Hooker County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hooker County
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hooker County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,464, 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 Hooker County's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hooker County
Hooker 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 Hooker County.
Who works in Hooker County, and how
Work in Hooker County centers on agriculture & forestry and arts & entertainment. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Hooker County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hooker County.
Is Hooker County growing, and who is moving in?
Hooker County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kansas City, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hooker County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hooker County, month by month
Hooker County sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 87° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 64° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Hooker County
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 64 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 240 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hooker County
Schools across Hooker County average a B+, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mullen Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Torrington Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Mullen Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Mullen High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Pine Bluffs Jr & Sr High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Julesburg High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hooker County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hooker 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 Hooker County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Hooker County
Is Hooker County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hooker County ranks 2,282nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, state finances, and short commutes, and lowest on a weak job market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hooker County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $93,800. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $49,464 median income, cost of living beats 14% of counties.
Is Hooker County safe?
Hooker County is safer than 3% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $697 per resident a year.
Compare Hooker County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hooker County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hooker 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.
Hooker County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hooker County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hooker County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hooker County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hooker County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hooker 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.