Best PlacesPowell, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Powell, 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.
Powell ranks 15,318th 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 Powell
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.
Powell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Powell ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute17.7 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
Where Powell ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Powell
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Powell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,568, 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 Powell'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 and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Powell
Powell runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Powell.
Who works in Powell, and how
Work in Powell centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Powell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Powell.
What the weather is like in Powell, month by month
Powell sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 68° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Powell
The nearest airport, Lincoln, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Powell
Schools across Powell average a B, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Meridian Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Jefferson Intermediate SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Meridian High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Fairbury Jr-sr High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Powell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Powell 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 Powell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Powell
Is Powell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Powell ranks 15,318th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and state infrastructure, 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 Powell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,016. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $88,568 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Powell safe?
Powell is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $280 per resident a year.
Compare Powell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Powell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Powell 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.
Powell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Powell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Powell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Powell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Powell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Powell 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.