Best PlacesNebraska, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nebraska, 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.
Nebraska ranks 49,935th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nebraska
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.
Nebraska's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nebraska ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 69% of towns
Where Nebraska ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute48.8 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nebraska
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nebraska home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,664, 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 Nebraska's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Nebraska
Nebraska runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Nebraska.
Who works in Nebraska, and how
Work in Nebraska centers on transportation & warehousing and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Nebraska
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nebraska.
What the weather is like in Nebraska, month by month
Nebraska sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 72° | 63° | 55° |
| July | 88° | 81° | 75° |
| October | 77° | 69° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Nebraska
The nearest airport, Coastal Carolina Regional, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 155 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nebraska
Schools across Nebraska average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top high schools
- Cape Hatteras Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nebraska school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nebraska 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 Nebraska against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nebraska
Is Nebraska a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nebraska ranks 49,935th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, state finances, and clean air, and lowest on disaster risk and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nebraska expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $91,834. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $47,664 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Nebraska safe?
Nebraska is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $838 per resident a year.
Compare Nebraska with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nebraska. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nebraska 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.
Nebraska detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nebraska: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nebraska: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nebraska: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nebraska: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nebraska 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.