Best PlacesMilligan, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Milligan, 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.
Milligan ranks 19,037th 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 Milligan
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.
Milligan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Milligan ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 119 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 75% of towns
Where Milligan ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 29% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Milligan
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Milligan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,175, 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 Milligan's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Milligan
Milligan 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 Milligan.
Who works in Milligan, and how
Work in Milligan 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 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Milligan
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Milligan.
What the weather is like in Milligan, month by month
Milligan sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 68° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Milligan
The nearest airport, Lincoln, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Milligan
Schools across Milligan average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Friend Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Fillmore Central ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Bruning-davenport Elem/davenptB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fillmore Central Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Bruning-davenport Middle SchB+ · 50% proficient
- Pike Valley Jr HighD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Exeter-milligan High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Fillmore Central High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Meridian High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Milligan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Milligan 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 Milligan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Milligan
Is Milligan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Milligan ranks 19,037th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, state infrastructure, and civic engagement, 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 Milligan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,094. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $77,175 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Milligan safe?
Milligan is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $380 per resident a year.
Compare Milligan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Milligan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Milligan 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.
Milligan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Milligan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Milligan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Milligan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Milligan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Milligan 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.