Best PlacesMerriman, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Merriman, 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.
Merriman ranks 18,282nd 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 Merriman
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.
Merriman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Merriman ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute17.6 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 136 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
Where Merriman ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Merriman
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Merriman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,037, 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 Merriman's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Merriman
Merriman runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Merriman.
Who works in Merriman, and how
Work in Merriman centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Merriman
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Merriman.
What the weather is like in Merriman, month by month
Merriman sees roughly 136 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 25° | 13° |
| April | 61° | 44° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 73° | 57° |
| October | 63° | 46° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Merriman
The nearest airport, Alliance Municipal, is about 76 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 256 miles away.
The best schools in and around Merriman
Schools across Merriman average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cody-kilgore Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Gordon-rushville Elem-gordonC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Cody-kilgore Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Torrington Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Cody-kilgore High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Torrington High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Gordon-rushville High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Merriman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Merriman 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 Merriman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Merriman
Is Merriman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Merriman ranks 18,282nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and short commutes, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Merriman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $116,082. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $73,037 median income, cost of living beats 60% of towns.
Is Merriman safe?
Merriman is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $386 per resident a year.
Compare Merriman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Merriman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Merriman 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.
Merriman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Merriman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Merriman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Merriman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Merriman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Merriman 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.