Best PlacesMclean, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mclean, 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.
Mclean ranks 9,686th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mclean
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.
Mclean's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mclean ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
Where Mclean ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mclean
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mclean home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,702, 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 Mclean's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Mclean
Mclean's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mclean.
Who works in Mclean, and how
Work in Mclean centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Mclean
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mclean.
What the weather is like in Mclean, month by month
Mclean sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Mclean
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mclean
Schools across Mclean average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Osmond Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Randolph Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Pierce Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Osmond High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Pierce Jr/sr High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Wausa High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mclean school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mclean 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 Mclean against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mclean
Is Mclean a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mclean ranks 9,686th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and population health, and lowest on biking and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mclean expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $266,979. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $83,702 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is Mclean safe?
Yes, Mclean is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $241 per resident a year.
Compare Mclean with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mclean. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mclean 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.
Mclean detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mclean: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mclean: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mclean: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mclean: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mclean 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.