Best PlacesMerrick County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Merrick 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.
Merrick County ranks 1,495th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Merrick 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.
Merrick County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Merrick County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 81% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 76% of counties
Where Merrick County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Merrick County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Merrick County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,693, 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 Merrick County's effective rate of 1.07%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Merrick County
Merrick County runs older than the country, 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 Merrick County.
Who works in Merrick County, and how
Work in Merrick County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Merrick County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Merrick County.
Is Merrick County growing, and who is moving in?
Merrick County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lincoln, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Merrick County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Merrick County, month by month
Merrick County sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Merrick County
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Merrick County
Schools across Merrick County average a B, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Palmer Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Fullerton Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Central City Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Central City Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Twin River Sr High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Northwest High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Fullerton High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Merrick County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Merrick 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 Merrick County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Merrick County
Is Merrick County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Merrick County ranks 1,495th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, civic engagement, and state infrastructure, and lowest on noise and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Merrick County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,187. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $68,693 median income, cost of living beats 59% of counties.
Is Merrick County safe?
Yes, Merrick County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.
Compare Merrick County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Merrick County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Merrick 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.
Merrick County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Merrick County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Merrick County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Merrick County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Merrick County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Merrick 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.