Best PlacesMonowi, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Monowi, 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.
Monowi ranks 23,748th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Monowi
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.
Monowi's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monowi ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute16.2 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
Where Monowi ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Monowi
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monowi home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,290, 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 Monowi's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Monowi
Monowi 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 Monowi.
Who works in Monowi, and how
Work in Monowi centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Monowi
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Monowi.
What the weather is like in Monowi, month by month
Monowi sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Monowi
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 96 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monowi
Schools across Monowi average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Akron Westfield Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- O'neill Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Niobrara Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Akron Westfield Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Akron Westfield Senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- O'neill High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Niobrara Secondary SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monowi school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monowi 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 Monowi against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Monowi
Is Monowi a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monowi ranks 23,748th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and good schools, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monowi expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $110,785. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $66,290 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is Monowi safe?
Monowi is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $504 per resident a year.
Compare Monowi with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monowi. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monowi 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.
Monowi detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monowi: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monowi: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monowi: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monowi: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monowi 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.