Best PlacesPlainview, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Plainview, 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.
Plainview ranks 13,307th 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 Plainview
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.
Plainview's strengths and weaknesses
Where Plainview ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute19.7 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Plainview ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- Household income$61,156 median, better than only 29% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Plainview
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plainview home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,156, 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 Plainview's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 Plainview
Plainview 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 Plainview.
Who works in Plainview, and how
Work in Plainview centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Plainview
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Plainview.
What the weather is like in Plainview, month by month
Plainview sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 23° | 13° |
| April | 66° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 52° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Plainview
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 72 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Plainview
Schools across Plainview average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Elkhorn Valley Elementary SchB+ · 55% proficient
- Plainview Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Creighton Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Plainview Secondary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Creighton Community High SchB · 48% proficient
- Elkhorn Valley High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plainview school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plainview 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 Plainview against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Plainview
Is Plainview a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plainview ranks 13,307th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and short commutes, 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 Plainview expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $124,749. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $61,156 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Plainview safe?
Plainview is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $308 per resident a year.
Compare Plainview with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plainview. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plainview 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.
Plainview detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plainview: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plainview: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plainview: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plainview: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plainview 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.