Best PlacesNorth Platte, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Platte, 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.
North Platte ranks 1,235th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in North Platte
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.
North Platte's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Platte ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of cities
- Short commute13.9 minutes each way, better than 99% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 85% of cities
Where North Platte ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 17% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in North Platte
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Platte home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,708, 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 North Platte's effective rate of 1.57%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in North Platte
North Platte 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 North Platte.
Who works in North Platte, and how
Work in North Platte centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in North Platte
North Platte has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of cities and more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of North Platte and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Platte, month by month
North Platte sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 25° | 12° |
| April | 68° | 49° | 32° |
| July | 92° | 76° | 61° |
| October | 70° | 50° | 34° |
Flying in and out of North Platte
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 223 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Platte
Schools across North Platte average a B−, better than 49% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Maloney Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Stapleton Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Mcdonald Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Madison Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Adams Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Stapleton High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Maywood High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Hershey High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Platte school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Platte 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 North Platte against the other 2,097 cities.
Who North Platte suits
Families
Schools land around the 49th percentile and crime safety beats 62%.
Common questions about living in North Platte
Is North Platte a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Platte ranks 1,235th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, state finances, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Platte expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,672. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $67,708 median income, cost of living beats 24% of cities.
Is North Platte safe?
Yes, North Platte is safer than 62% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $296 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in North Platte?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 12. That works out to about 122 pleasant days a year, more than 70% of cities.
Is North Platte good for families?
Schools beat 49% of cities, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $848 a month.
Compare North Platte with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Platte. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Platte 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.
North Platte detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Platte: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Platte: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Platte: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Platte: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Platte 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.