Best PlacesRock County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rock County, 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.
Rock County ranks 1,723rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rock County
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.
Rock County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rock County ranks high
- Short commute11.7 minutes each way, better than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- QuietBetter than 90% of counties
Where Rock County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rock County
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rock County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,241, 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 Rock County's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Rock County
Rock County 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 Rock County.
Who works in Rock County, and how
Work in Rock County centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Rock County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rock County.
Is Rock County growing, and who is moving in?
Rock County has lost about 14% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Omaha, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rock County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rock County, month by month
Rock County sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 61° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Rock County
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 115 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 204 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rock County
Schools across Rock County average a B−, better than 67% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bassett Grade SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Ainsworth Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ainsworth Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Ainsworth High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Rock County High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rock County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rock County 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 Rock County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Rock County
Is Rock County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rock County ranks 1,723rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and state finances, and lowest on internet speeds and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rock County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $117,682. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $60,241 median income, cost of living beats 19% of counties.
Is Rock County safe?
Rock County is safer than 8% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $563 per resident a year.
Compare Rock County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rock County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rock County 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.
Rock County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rock County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rock County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rock County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rock County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rock County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.