Best PlacesThomas County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Thomas 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.
Thomas County ranks 1,563rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Thomas 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.
Thomas County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thomas County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Thomas County ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Thomas County
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thomas County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,000, 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 Thomas County's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Thomas County
Thomas 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 Thomas County.
Who works in Thomas County, and how
Work in Thomas County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Thomas County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thomas County.
Is Thomas County growing, and who is moving in?
Thomas County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Thomas County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Thomas County, month by month
Thomas County sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 63° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 49° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Thomas County
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 246 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thomas County
Schools across Thomas County average a B, better than 71% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mullen Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Thedford Elem Attendance CntrB− · 40% proficient
- Elementary School At HalseyB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Mullen High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- High School At DunningB+ · 52% proficient
- Thedford High SchoolB · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thomas County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thomas 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 Thomas County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Thomas County
Is Thomas County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thomas County ranks 1,563rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, state finances, and health care access, and lowest on biking and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thomas County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $109,200. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $65,000 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Thomas County safe?
Thomas County is safer than 13% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $490 per resident a year.
Compare Thomas County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thomas County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thomas 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.
Thomas County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thomas County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thomas County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thomas County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thomas County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thomas 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.