Best PlacesWood River, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wood River, 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.
Wood River ranks 9,951st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wood River
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.
Wood River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wood River ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
Where Wood River ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wood River
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wood River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,192, 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 Wood River's effective rate of 1.28%, 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 Wood River
Wood River's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wood River.
Who works in Wood River, and how
Work in Wood River centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wood River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wood River.
What the weather is like in Wood River, month by month
Wood River sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 68° | 51° | 36° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 53° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Wood River
The nearest airport, Central Nebraska Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 145 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wood River
Schools across Wood River average a B+, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Centura Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Cedar Hollow SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Wood River Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wood River Rural Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Kenesaw Secondary SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Wood River Rural High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Centura Secondary SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wood River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wood River 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 Wood River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wood River
Is Wood River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wood River ranks 9,951st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and cell coverage, and lowest on noise 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 Wood River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,523. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $82,192 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is Wood River safe?
Yes, Wood River is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
Compare Wood River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wood River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wood River 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.
Wood River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wood River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wood River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wood River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wood River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wood River 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.