Best Cities in Nebraska for Schools

Welcome to SchoolDigger, your premier source for city-wide school rankings! Our user-friendly platform focuses on test scores, presenting a transparent, data-driven comparison to help you navigate the educational scene. Explore top-rated cities in Nebraska and make informed decisions for your child's academic future. With our comprehensive database, uncover the best-performing schools within each city, evaluate their performance, and gain valuable insights. Trust SchoolDigger.com to guide you in finding the perfect city for your child's education. Embark on your journey to academic success right here!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Nebraska test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the test scores by the Nebraska Department of Education. The most recent update was on Sunday, November 30, 2025.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

Rank (of 137)	City	# Elementary Schools	# Middle Schools	# High Schools	# Alt. Schools	# Private Schools*	Rank score (2025)	Rank (2024)	Rank change from 2024
1^st	Mead	1	0	1	0	0	0.979	37	36
2^nd	Johnson	2	0	1	0	0	0.952	2
3^rd	Trenton	0	0	1	0	0	0.938		(n/a)
4^th	Seward	1	1	1	0	2	0.935	10	6
5^th	Elkhorn	8	2	1	0	3	0.932	4	1
6^th	Humphrey	1	0	1	0	1	0.932	101	95
7^th	Palmyra	0	1	1	0	0	0.904	94	87
8^th	Syracuse	1	1	1	0	0	0.901	18	10
9^th	Plainview	1	0	1	0	1	0.877	99	90
10^th	Crofton	1	0	1	0	1	0.852	92	82
11^th	Fort Calhoun	1	0	1	0	0	0.851	16	5
12^th	Pender	1	0	1	0	0	0.845	12
13^th	North Bend	1	1	1	0	0	0.833	23	10
14^th	Battle Creek	1	0	1	0	1	0.827	57	43
15^th	Atkinson	2	0	1	0	1	0.827	33	18
16^th	Ponca	1	0	1	0	0	0.806	5	11
17^th	Ainsworth	2	1	1	0	0	0.802	136	119
18^th	Bennet	1	0	0	0	0	0.799	38	20
19^th	Yutan	1	0	1	0	0	0.794	17	2
20^th	Hershey	1	0	1	0	0	0.789	86	66
21^st	Gordon	1	0	1	0	0	0.788	65	44
22^nd	De Witt	1	0	1	0	0	0.787	75	53
23^rd	Hebron	1	0	1	0	0	0.782	111	88
24^th	Elmwood	1	0	0	0	0	0.776	11	13
25^th	Stanton	1	0	1	0	0	0.769	173	148
26^th	Genoa	1	0	1	0	0	0.767	193	167
27^th	Imperial	1	1	1	0	0	0.767	137	110
28^th	Bennington	5	2	1	1	0	0.761	8	20
29^th	Murdock	0	0	1	0	0	0.759	20	9
30^th	Pierce	1	0	1	0	1	0.757	52	22
31^st	Deshler	1	0	1	0	1	0.74	185	154
32^nd	Valentine	2	1	1	0	1	0.723	107	75
33^rd	Amherst	1	0	1	0	0	0.722	97	64
34^th	Firth	2	1	1	0	0	0.717	24	10
35^th	Arlington	1	0	1	0	1	0.703	21	14
36^th	Malcolm	1	0	1	0	0	0.687	13	23
37^th	Tilden	1	0	1	0	0	0.681	55	18
38^th	Gretna	4	1	1	0	0	0.679	19	19
39^th	Wilcox	1	0	1	0	0	0.678	110	71
40^th	Wisner	1	0	1	0	0	0.676	134	94
41^st	Waverly	2	1	1	0	1	0.674	15	26
42^nd	Central City	1	1	1	0	1	0.671	27	15
43^rd	Ravenna	1	0	1	0	0	0.668	88	45
44^th	Mitchell	2	0	1	0	0	0.667	28	16
45^th	Wahoo	2	1	1	0	2	0.659	14	31
46^th	Auburn	3	1	1	1	0	0.65	64	18
47^th	Hemingford	1	0	1	0	0	0.64	121	74
48^th	Ashland	2	1	1	0	0	0.634	69	21
49^th	Oxford	1	0	1	0	0	0.633	79	30
50^th	Mc Cook	2	1	3	0	1	0.626	58	8
51^st	Kimball	1	0	1	0	0	0.624	71	20
52^nd	Benkelman	1	0	1	0	0	0.623	95	43
53^rd	Saint Paul	1	0	1	0	0	0.617	66	13
54^th	Broken Bow	3	1	1	0	0	0.613	115	61
55^th	Doniphan	1	0	1	0	0	0.612	35	20
56^th	Milford	1	0	1	0	0	0.612	89	33
57^th	Blair	3	1	1	0	1	0.61	34	23
58^th	Cairo	1	0	1	0	1	0.601	90	32
59^th	Kearney	11	2	3	0	4	0.6	49	10
60^th	Homer	1	0	1	0	0	0.595	170	110
61^st	Chadron	2	1	2	0	3	0.594	40	21
62^nd	Utica	1	1	1	0	1	0.589	51	11
63^rd	Papillion	13	2	2	0	2	0.584	43	20
64^th	Bridgeport	2	0	1	0	0	0.582	67	3
65^th	West Point	1	1	1	0	3	0.581	78	13
66^th	Oakland	1	0	1	0	0	0.581	25	41
67^th	Albion	1	1	1	0	1	0.58	135	68
68^th	Alma	1	0	1	0	0	0.578	159	91
69^th	Elm Creek	1	0	1	0	0	0.577	47	22
70^th	Louisville	1	1	1	0	0	0.569	56	14
71^st	Henderson	1	0	1	0	0	0.561	61	10
72^nd	Aurora	2	1	1	0	0	0.56	72
73^rd	Springfield	1	1	1	0	0	0.553	108	35
74^th	Culbertson	1	0	0	0	0	0.551	60	14
75^th	Valley	1	1	2	0	0	0.549	109	34
76^th	Minden	1	1	1	0	0	0.54	138	62
77^th	Wood River	1	1	1	0	0	0.536	29	48
78^th	Shelby	1	1	1	0	0	0.536	167	89
79^th	Pawnee City	1	0	1	0	1	0.527	83	4
80^th	Wayne	2	1	1	1	1	0.526	96	16
81^st	Eagle	1	0	0	0	0	0.503	44	37
82^nd	Cozad	2	1	1	0	0	0.495	130	48
83^rd	Leigh	1	0	1	0	0	0.49	1	82
84^th	Dakota City	1	0	0	0	0	0.483	201	117
85^th	Geneva	1	0	1	0	1	0.483	26	59
86^th	Sutton	1	0	1	0	0	0.475	144	58
87^th	Oneill	2	0	1	0	3	0.475	162	75
88^th	Hooper	1	0	1	0	1	0.468	70	18
89^th	Sidney	3	2	1	0	0	0.467	120	31
90^th	Lyons	1	0	1	0	0	0.46	113	23
91^st	Bloomfield	1	0	1	0	0	0.459	39	52
92^nd	Hastings	8	2	4	0	3	0.457	157	65
93^rd	Murray	1	0	1	0	0	0.457	84	9
94^th	North Platte	10	2	1	0	4	0.448	155	61
95^th	Fairfield	2	1	2	0	0	0.446	112	17
96^th	Brainard	1	0	1	0	0	0.445	73	23
97^th	Omaha	122	27	35	5	56	0.441	146	49
98^th	Norfolk	8	2	2	1	7	0.433	125	27
99^th	Hartington	1	0	1	0	4	0.43	48	51
100^th	Raymond	1	1	1	0	0	0.427	179	79
101^st	Ord	1	0	1	0	1	0.418	156	55
102^nd	La Vista	5	1	1	1	1	0.417	139	37
103^rd	Holdrege	5	1	1	0	1	0.413	132	29
104^th	Adams	0	0	1	1	0	0.4	63	41
105^th	Tecumseh	1	0	1	0	1	0.39	180	75
106^th	Gibbon	1	0	1	0	0	0.384	203	97
107^th	Grant	1	0	1	0	0	0.384	62	45
108^th	Fairmont	0	1	0	0	0	0.376	104	4
109^th	Bellevue	23	3	2	1	6	0.367	147	38
110^th	Grand Island	18	3	7	0	5	0.35	184	74
111^th	York	2	1	1	0	2	0.342	171	60
112^th	Lincoln	48	14	21	0	30	0.342	142	30
113^th	Tekamah	1	0	1	0	0	0.339	124	11
114^th	Ogallala	1	0	1	0	2	0.336	186	72
115^th	David City	1	0	1	0	2	0.331	93	22
116^th	Gering	4	2	1	0	0	0.326	168	52
117^th	Wakefield	1	0	1	0	0	0.325	197	80
118^th	Creighton	1	0	1	0	1	0.322	153	35
119^th	Scottsbluff	8	1	3	1	3	0.313	177	58
120^th	Laurel	1	0	1	0	0	0.308	68	52
121^st	Alliance	3	1	1	0	3	0.303	188	67
122^nd	Plattsmouth	2	1	1	0	2	0.295	151	29
123^rd	Columbus	8	2	2	2	8	0.29	191	68
124^th	Gothenburg	2	0	1	0	1	0.274	127	3
125^th	Falls City	2	1	1	0	1	0.261	166	41
126^th	Ralston	2	1	1	0	1	0.25	187	61
127^th	Crete	3	1	2	0	1	0.234	190	63
128^th	Superior	1	1	1	0	0	0.228	189	61
129^th	South Sioux City	5	1	1	0	1	0.206	182	53
130^th	Wilber	1	1	1	0	0	0.195	160	30
131^st	Spencer	0	1	1	0	0	0.192	149	18
132^nd	Beatrice	4	1	2	0	2	0.173	196	64
133^rd	Schuyler	5	1	1	0	0	0.144	204	71
134^th	Fairbury	2	0	1	0	0	0.123	198	64
135^th	Fremont	9	2	2	2	4	0.113	206	71
136^th	Lexington	6	1	1	0	0	0.113	205	69
137^th	Nebraska City	2	1	1	1	1	0.113	202	65

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About our rankings:

* Private schools are not used in determining city rank.
Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on test scores released by the Nebraska Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on November 30, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Nebraska Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Nebraska Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Nebraska Department of Education.