Best PlacesThayer County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Thayer 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.
Thayer County ranks 1,231st 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 Thayer 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.
Thayer County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thayer County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Short commute16.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 87% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of counties
Where Thayer County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 33% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Thayer County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thayer County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,040, 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 Thayer County's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Thayer County
Thayer 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 Thayer County.
Who works in Thayer County, and how
Work in Thayer County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Thayer County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thayer County.
Is Thayer County growing, and who is moving in?
Thayer County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lincoln, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Thayer County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Thayer County, month by month
Thayer County sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 68° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Thayer County
The nearest airport, Lincoln, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thayer County
Schools across Thayer County average a B+, better than 85% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Thayer Central ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Shickley Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Bruning-davenport Elem/davenptB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bruning-davenport Middle SchB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Thayer Central High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Shickley High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Meridian High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thayer County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thayer 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 Thayer County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Thayer County
Is Thayer County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thayer County ranks 1,231st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, and civic engagement, and lowest on tree cover and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thayer County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,852. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $66,040 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Thayer County safe?
Thayer County is safer than 33% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $372 per resident a year.
Compare Thayer County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thayer County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thayer 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.
Thayer County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thayer County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thayer County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thayer County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thayer County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thayer 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.