Best PlacesScotts Bluff County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Scotts Bluff County, 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.
Scotts Bluff County ranks 980th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Scotts Bluff 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.
The best areas in Scotts Bluff County
The parts of Scotts Bluff County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Gering
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Scottsbluff
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Mitchell
More residents vote, though fewer households have young kids.
Scores across Scotts Bluff County run from about the 13th to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Scotts Bluff County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Scotts Bluff County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of counties
- Short commute15.6 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of counties
- BikingBetter than 90% of counties
Where Scotts Bluff County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Scotts Bluff County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scotts Bluff County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,310, 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 Scotts Bluff County's effective rate of 1.43%, 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 Scotts Bluff County
Scotts Bluff County'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 Scotts Bluff County.
Who works in Scotts Bluff County, and how
Work in Scotts Bluff County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Scotts Bluff County
Scotts Bluff County has more parkland per resident than 70% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Scotts Bluff County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Scotts Bluff County growing, and who is moving in?
Scotts Bluff County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Scotts Bluff County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Scotts Bluff County, month by month
Scotts Bluff County sees roughly 136 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 27° | 14° |
| April | 67° | 47° | 31° |
| July | 95° | 75° | 59° |
| October | 69° | 49° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Scotts Bluff County
The nearest airport, Scottsbluff/Western Nebraska Regional/Wm B Heilig Field, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 148 miles away.
The best schools in and around Scotts Bluff County
Schools across Scotts Bluff County average a B−, better than 63% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Southeast ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Geil Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Lake Minatare SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southeast Junior High SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Bluffs Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Gering Junior High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Southeast High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Banner County High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Mitchell Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scotts Bluff County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scotts Bluff 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 Scotts Bluff County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Scotts Bluff County suits
Common questions about living in Scotts Bluff County
Is Scotts Bluff County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scotts Bluff County ranks 980th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on noise and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Scotts Bluff County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,246. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $67,310 median income, cost of living beats 61% of counties.
Is Scotts Bluff County safe?
Scotts Bluff County is safer than 34% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $376 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Scotts Bluff County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 14. That works out to about 136 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Scotts Bluff County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Gering, Scottsbluff, and Mitchell. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Scotts Bluff County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scotts Bluff County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scotts Bluff 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.
Scotts Bluff County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scotts Bluff County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scotts Bluff County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scotts Bluff County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scotts Bluff County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scotts Bluff 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.