Best PlacesSherman County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sherman County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sherman County ranks 2,159th 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 Sherman 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.
Sherman County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sherman County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 125 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of counties
Where Sherman County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sherman County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sherman County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,369, 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 Sherman County's effective rate of 1.19%, 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 Sherman County
Sherman 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 Sherman County.
Who works in Sherman County, and how
Work in Sherman County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Sherman County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sherman County.
Is Sherman County growing, and who is moving in?
Sherman County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cherry County, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sherman County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sherman County, month by month
Sherman County sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 24° | 14° |
| April | 64° | 48° | 35° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 50° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Sherman County
The nearest airport, Kearney Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 160 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sherman County
Schools across Sherman County average a B−, better than 64% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Westwood Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Ravenna Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Centura Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Westwood High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- West Harrison Middle School/high SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Litchfield High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sherman County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sherman 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 Sherman County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Sherman County
Is Sherman County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sherman County ranks 2,159th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, health care access, and state infrastructure, 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 Sherman County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $146,097. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $61,369 median income, cost of living beats 37% of counties.
Is Sherman County safe?
Sherman County is safer than 12% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $525 per resident a year.
Compare Sherman County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sherman County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sherman 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.
Sherman County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sherman County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sherman County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sherman County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sherman County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sherman 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.