Best PlacesMadison County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Madison 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.
Madison County ranks 569th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Madison 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.
Madison County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Madison County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Short commute14.3 minutes each way, better than 97% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of counties
Where Madison County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 28% of counties
- Cheap childcare$848 a month, better than only 36% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Madison County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Madison County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,106, 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 Madison County's effective rate of 1.30%, 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 Madison County
Madison County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Madison County.
Who works in Madison County, and how
Work in Madison County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Madison County
Madison County has more parkland per resident than 83% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Madison County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Madison County growing, and who is moving in?
Madison County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Omaha, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Madison County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Madison County, month by month
Madison County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 23° | 13° |
| April | 66° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 52° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Madison County
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Madison County
Schools across Madison County average a B−, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Newman Grove Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Westside Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Bel Air Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sergeant Bluff-luton Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- West Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Norfolk Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Newman Grove High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Humphrey Jr-sr High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Battle Creek High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Madison County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Madison 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 Madison County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Madison County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 62% of counties and health care access beats 56%.
Common questions about living in Madison County
Is Madison County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Madison County ranks 569th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and cell coverage, and lowest on property taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Madison County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $220,517. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $71,106 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Madison County safe?
Yes, Madison County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $286 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Madison County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 13. That works out to about 102 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of counties.
Is Madison County good for families?
Schools beat 65% of counties, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $848 a month.
Compare Madison County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Madison County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Madison 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.
Madison County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Madison County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Madison County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Madison County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Madison County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Madison 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.