Best PlacesSprague, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sprague, 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.
Sprague ranks 1,939th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sprague
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.
Sprague's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sprague ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of towns
Where Sprague ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,085 a month, better than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 29% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 43% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sprague
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sprague home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $118,333, 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 Sprague'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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sprague
Sprague runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sprague.
Who works in Sprague, and how
Work in Sprague centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Sprague
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sprague.
What the weather is like in Sprague, month by month
Sprague sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 67° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Sprague
The nearest airport, Lincoln, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sprague
Schools across Sprague average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Norris Intermediate SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Norris Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Crete Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Norris High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Crete High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sprague school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sprague 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 Sprague against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sprague
Is Sprague a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sprague ranks 1,939th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, a strong job market, and few empty homes, and lowest on property taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sprague expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $327,500. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $118,333 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Sprague safe?
Yes, Sprague is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $196 per resident a year.
Compare Sprague with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sprague. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sprague 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.
Sprague detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sprague: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sprague: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sprague: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sprague: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sprague 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.