Best PlacesSaunders County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Saunders County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Saunders County ranks 304th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Saunders 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.
Saunders County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Saunders County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of counties
Where Saunders County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Saunders County
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Saunders County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $96,784, 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 Saunders County's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 Saunders County
Saunders County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Saunders County.
Who works in Saunders County, and how
Work in Saunders County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Saunders County
Saunders County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Saunders County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Saunders County growing, and who is moving in?
Saunders County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Omaha, NE metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Saunders County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Saunders County, month by month
Saunders County sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Saunders County
The nearest airport, Lincoln, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 35 miles away.
The best schools in and around Saunders County
Schools across Saunders County average a B+, better than 83% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- North Bend Central Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Elementary School At BrainardA · 65% proficient
- Ashland-greenwood Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wahoo Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- North Bend Central Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Yutan High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Ashland-greenwood High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Mead High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Saunders County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Saunders 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 Saunders County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Saunders County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Saunders County
Is Saunders County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Saunders County ranks 304th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, a strong job market, and low crime, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Saunders County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $281,240. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $96,784 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Saunders County safe?
Yes, Saunders County is safer than 95% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Saunders County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 17. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of counties.
Is Saunders County good for families?
Schools beat 83% of counties, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $848 a month.
Compare Saunders County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Saunders County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Saunders 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.
Saunders County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Saunders County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Saunders County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Saunders County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Saunders County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Saunders 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.