Best PlacesKeya Paha County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Keya Paha 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.
Keya Paha County ranks 1,342nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Keya Paha 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.
Keya Paha County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Keya Paha County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Short commute18.7 minutes each way, better than 85% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of counties
Where Keya Paha County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Keya Paha County
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Keya Paha County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,000, 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 Keya Paha County's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Keya Paha County
Keya Paha County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Keya Paha County.
Who works in Keya Paha County, and how
Work in Keya Paha County centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Keya Paha County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Keya Paha County.
Is Keya Paha County growing, and who is moving in?
Keya Paha County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lincoln, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Keya Paha County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Keya Paha County, month by month
Keya Paha County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 61° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Keya Paha County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 108 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 224 miles away.
The best schools in and around Keya Paha County
Schools across Keya Paha County average a B, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Spring View Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Keya Paha County High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Keya Paha County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Keya Paha 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 Keya Paha County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Keya Paha County
Is Keya Paha County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Keya Paha County ranks 1,342nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, state finances, and health care access, and lowest on internet speeds 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 Keya Paha County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $108,800. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $64,000 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Keya Paha County safe?
Yes, Keya Paha County is safer than 79% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $251 per resident a year.
Compare Keya Paha County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Keya Paha County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Keya Paha 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.
Keya Paha County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Keya Paha County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Keya Paha County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Keya Paha County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Keya Paha County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Keya Paha 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.