Best PlacesMcCool Junction, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McCool Junction, 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.
McCool Junction ranks 11,498th 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 McCool Junction
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.
McCool Junction's strengths and weaknesses
Where McCool Junction ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute17.7 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 139 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of towns
- Household income$105,498 median, better than 88% of towns
Where McCool Junction ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 27% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McCool Junction
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McCool Junction home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $105,498, 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 McCool Junction's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 McCool Junction
McCool Junction runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McCool Junction.
Who works in McCool Junction, and how
Work in McCool Junction 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 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in McCool Junction
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McCool Junction.
What the weather is like in McCool Junction, month by month
McCool Junction sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 65° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of McCool Junction
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around McCool Junction
Schools across McCool Junction average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fillmore Central ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Centennial Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- York Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- York Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Fillmore Central Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Exeter-milligan High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Fillmore Central High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Centennial Jr-sr High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McCool Junction school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McCool Junction 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 McCool Junction against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McCool Junction
Is McCool Junction a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McCool Junction ranks 11,498th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and health care access, and lowest on tree cover and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McCool Junction expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $238,580. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $105,498 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is McCool Junction safe?
McCool Junction is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $412 per resident a year.
Compare McCool Junction with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McCool Junction. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McCool Junction 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.
McCool Junction detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McCool Junction: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McCool Junction: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McCool Junction: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McCool Junction: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McCool Junction 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.