Best PlacesSchool Creek, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around School Creek, 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.
School Creek ranks 16,093rd 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 School Creek
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.
School Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where School Creek ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of towns
- Short commute22.2 minutes each way, better than 79% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 79% of towns
Where School Creek ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in School Creek
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median School Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,396, 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 School Creek's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in School Creek
School Creek's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 School Creek.
Who works in School Creek, and how
Work in School Creek centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in School Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across School Creek.
What the weather is like in School Creek, month by month
School Creek sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of School Creek
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around School Creek
Schools across School Creek average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Heartland Community ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Sutton Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Heartland Community High SchA− · 62% proficient
- Sutton Secondary SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every School Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
School Creek 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 School Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in School Creek
Is School Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, School Creek ranks 16,093rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, state infrastructure, and what local pay buys, and lowest on tree cover and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is School Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,613. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $84,396 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is School Creek safe?
Yes, School Creek is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
Compare School Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to School Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in School Creek 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.
School Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for School Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in School Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of School Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in School Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
School Creek 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.