Best PlacesThurston County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Thurston 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.
Thurston County ranks 1,757th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Thurston 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.
Thurston County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thurston County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of counties
- QuietBetter than 78% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 74% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 74% of counties
Where Thurston County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 22% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Thurston County
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thurston County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,689, 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 Thurston County's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Thurston County
Thurston County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Thurston County.
Who works in Thurston County, and how
Work in Thurston County centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Thurston County
Thurston County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Thurston County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Thurston County growing, and who is moving in?
Thurston County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux City, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Thurston County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Thurston County, month by month
Thurston County sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 22° | 12° |
| April | 65° | 49° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 51° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Thurston County
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thurston County
Schools across Thurston County average a C−, better than 22% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pender Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Emerson-hubbard Elementary SchA · 65% proficient
- Homer Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sergeant Bluff-luton Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Emerson-hubbard Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Umo N Ho N Nation Middle SchF · 4% proficient
Top high schools
- Pender High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Northeast Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Bancroft-rosalie Jr/sr High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thurston County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thurston 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 Thurston County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Thurston County
Is Thurston County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thurston County ranks 1,757th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, state infrastructure, and quiet, and lowest on internet speeds and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thurston County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $103,973. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $66,689 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Thurston County safe?
Thurston County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $437 per resident a year.
Compare Thurston County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thurston County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thurston 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.
Thurston County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thurston County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thurston County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thurston County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thurston County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thurston 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.