Best PlacesMcCook, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McCook, 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.
McCook ranks 9,545th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in McCook
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.
McCook's strengths and weaknesses
Where McCook ranks high
- Short commute9.8 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
Where McCook ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McCook
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McCook home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,472, 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 McCook's effective rate of 1.18%, 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 McCook
McCook's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 McCook.
Who works in McCook, and how
Work in McCook centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in McCook
McCook has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of McCook and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in McCook, month by month
McCook sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 69° | 51° | 37° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 65° |
| October | 70° | 52° | 39° |
Flying in and out of McCook
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 215 miles away.
The best schools in and around McCook
Schools across McCook average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mc Cook Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Central Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Hayes Center Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mc Cook Junior High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Mc Cook Senior High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Hitchcock Co Jr/sr High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Southwest Jr/sr High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McCook school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McCook 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 McCook against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McCook
Is McCook a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McCook ranks 9,545th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, state finances, and walkability, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McCook expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,869. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $64,472 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is McCook safe?
McCook is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
Compare McCook with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McCook. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McCook 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.
McCook detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McCook: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McCook: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McCook: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McCook: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McCook 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.