Best PlacesNance County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nance 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.
Nance County ranks 1,336th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nance 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.
Nance County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nance County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of counties
- QuietBetter than 80% of counties
Where Nance County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nance County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nance County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,109, 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 Nance County's effective rate of 1.19%, 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 Nance County
Nance 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 Nance County.
Who works in Nance County, and how
Work in Nance County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Nance County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nance County.
Is Nance County growing, and who is moving in?
Nance County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Grand Island, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nance County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nance County, month by month
Nance County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 64° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 65° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Nance County
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 104 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nance County
Schools across Nance County average a B, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Palmer Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Fullerton Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- West Harrison ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sergeant Bluff-luton Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- West Monona Middle SchA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Sergeant Bluff-luton Senior High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- West Harrison Middle School/high SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Twin River Sr High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nance County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nance 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 Nance County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Nance County
Is Nance County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nance County ranks 1,336th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and civic engagement, and lowest on disaster risk and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nance County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $133,538. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $68,109 median income, cost of living beats 54% of counties.
Is Nance County safe?
Yes, Nance County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $295 per resident a year.
Compare Nance County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nance County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nance 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.
Nance County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nance County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nance County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nance County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nance County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nance 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.