Best PlacesParks, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Parks, 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.
Parks ranks 23,257th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Parks
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.
Parks' strengths and weaknesses
Where Parks ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute19.5 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 131 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of towns
Where Parks ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Parks
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Parks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,188, 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 Parks' effective rate of 0.90%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Parks
Parks 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 Parks.
Who works in Parks, and how
Work in Parks centers on agriculture & forestry and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Parks
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Parks.
What the weather is like in Parks, month by month
Parks sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 27° | 15° |
| April | 68° | 49° | 33° |
| July | 94° | 76° | 61° |
| October | 70° | 51° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Parks
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 84 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 160 miles away.
The best schools in and around Parks
Schools across Parks average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cheylin ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Chase County Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Palisade Attendance CenterB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wauneta Palisade Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Chase County High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Dundy Co Stratton High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Wray Junior Senior High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Parks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Parks 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 Parks against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Parks
Is Parks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Parks ranks 23,257th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and short commutes, and lowest on biking and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Parks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,900. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $62,188 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Parks safe?
Parks is safer than 25% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $392 per resident a year.
Compare Parks with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Parks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Parks 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.
Parks detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Parks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Parks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Parks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Parks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Parks 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.