Living in Kearney, NE
Small city in Nebraska
Kearney is a small city in Nebraska, home to about 34,000 people, with 56,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, most trips are by car. Life moves at a relaxed pace, and homes are mostly apartments.
Is Kearney a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $293k and rents for $1,360 a month
- Mild summers: highs around 84°F
- Low natural disaster risk: 10 federally declared disasters since 2000
- Strong healthcare: 2 top-rated (4–5★) hospitals within 31 mi
👎 Cons
- Smaller job market: about 56,000 people live within 31 mi
- Fewer family amenities than most places
- No dog parks within 9 mi
- Fewer outdoor escapes: no big hills or water close by
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Kearney ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Kearney: common questions
What is the cost of living in Kearney?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $293k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,360 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 90, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Kearney?
Nebraska collects about $1,109 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 1.49% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Kearney safe?
Kearney isn't in the FBI's 2019 city crime table, so Best Life Fit Me counts its safety as average.
How are the schools in Kearney?
Public schools in Kearney test above the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 16 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Kearney?
Kearney has cold winters: winter days average around 38°F and summer days around 84°F, with roughly 22″ of snow a year.
Does Kearney get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from hail, flooding and tornadoes: 10 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.55 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Kearney?
The nearest major airport is OMA, about 171 mi away.
How Kearney scores
Each bar compares Kearney with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Kearney
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in Nebraska.
Is Kearney right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.