Best PlacesSheridan County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sheridan 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.
Sheridan County ranks 1,277th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sheridan 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.
Sheridan County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sheridan County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 135 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 85% of counties
- Short commute18.7 minutes each way, better than 85% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of counties
Where Sheridan County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 19% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sheridan County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sheridan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,104, 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 Sheridan County's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sheridan County
Sheridan 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 Sheridan County.
Who works in Sheridan County, and how
Work in Sheridan County centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Sheridan County
Sheridan County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of counties and more parkland per resident than 91% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sheridan County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sheridan County growing, and who is moving in?
Sheridan County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Oglala Lakota County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sheridan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sheridan County, month by month
Sheridan County sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 25° | 13° |
| April | 61° | 44° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 73° | 57° |
| October | 63° | 46° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Sheridan County
The nearest airport, Alliance Municipal, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 229 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sheridan County
Schools across Sheridan County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hay Springs Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Hyannis Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Hemingford Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hay Springs Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Chadron Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Lusk Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Hyannis High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Chadron Senior High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Hemingford High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sheridan County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sheridan 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 Sheridan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Sheridan County
Is Sheridan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sheridan County ranks 1,277th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, the weather, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sheridan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $116,060. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $64,104 median income, cost of living beats 58% of counties.
Is Sheridan County safe?
Sheridan County is safer than 28% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $398 per resident a year.
Compare Sheridan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sheridan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sheridan 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.
Sheridan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sheridan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sheridan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sheridan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sheridan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sheridan 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.