Best PlacesSanborn, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sanborn, 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.
Sanborn ranks 21,871st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sanborn
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.
Sanborn's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sanborn 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
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
Where Sanborn ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sanborn
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sanborn 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 Sanborn's 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 Sanborn
Sanborn 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 Sanborn.
Who works in Sanborn, and how
Work in Sanborn 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 Sanborn
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sanborn.
What the weather is like in Sanborn, month by month
Sanborn sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 28° | 17° |
| April | 68° | 49° | 34° |
| July | 93° | 76° | 62° |
| October | 70° | 51° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Sanborn
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 100 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sanborn
Schools across Sanborn average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Benkelman Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Dundy Co Stratton High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sanborn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sanborn 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 Sanborn against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sanborn
Is Sanborn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sanborn ranks 21,871st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and short commutes, and lowest on tree cover and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sanborn 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 Sanborn safe?
Sanborn is safer than 25% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $392 per resident a year.
Compare Sanborn with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sanborn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sanborn 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.
Sanborn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sanborn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sanborn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sanborn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sanborn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sanborn 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.