Best PlacesMelbeta, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Melbeta, 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.
Melbeta ranks 28,503rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Melbeta
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.
Melbeta's strengths and weaknesses
Where Melbeta ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 126 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 70% of towns
Where Melbeta ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Melbeta
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Melbeta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,756, 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 Melbeta's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Melbeta
Melbeta'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 Melbeta.
Who works in Melbeta, and how
Work in Melbeta centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Melbeta
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Melbeta.
What the weather is like in Melbeta, month by month
Melbeta sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 27° | 14° |
| April | 67° | 47° | 31° |
| July | 95° | 75° | 59° |
| October | 69° | 49° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Melbeta
The nearest airport, Scottsbluff/Western Nebraska Regional/Wm B Heilig Field, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around Melbeta
Schools across Melbeta average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Minatare SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Lagrange ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Banner County Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southeast Junior High SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Bluffs Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Gering Junior High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Banner County High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Pine Bluffs Jr & Sr High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Scottsbluff Senior High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Melbeta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Melbeta 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 Melbeta against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Melbeta
Is Melbeta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Melbeta ranks 28,503rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, state infrastructure, and a stable housing market, and lowest on noise and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Melbeta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $209,957. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $76,756 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Melbeta safe?
Yes, Melbeta is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare Melbeta with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Melbeta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Melbeta 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.
Melbeta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Melbeta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Melbeta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Melbeta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Melbeta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Melbeta 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.