Best PlacesLeigh, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Leigh, 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.
Leigh ranks 5,399th 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 Leigh
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.
Leigh's strengths and weaknesses
Where Leigh ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- Short commute18.5 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Leigh ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Leigh
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Leigh home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,509, 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 Leigh's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Leigh
Leigh runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Leigh.
Who works in Leigh, and how
Work in Leigh centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Leigh
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Leigh.
What the weather is like in Leigh, month by month
Leigh sees roughly 110 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 Leigh
The nearest airport, Lincoln, is about 64 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around Leigh
Schools across Leigh average a B+, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Stanton Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Leigh Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Shell Creek Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lakeview Junior High SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Richland Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Schuyler Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Leigh High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Lakeview High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Clarkson Jr-sr High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Leigh school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Leigh 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 Leigh against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Leigh
Is Leigh a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Leigh ranks 5,399th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on tree cover and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Leigh expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,373. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $83,509 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Leigh safe?
Leigh is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.
Compare Leigh with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Leigh. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Leigh 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.
Leigh detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Leigh: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Leigh: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Leigh: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Leigh: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Leigh 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.