Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Broken Bow gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $176K, 2.6 years of the county’s $68K median household income. It grades A− overall, 18th of 57 graded towns in Nebraska. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 80% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top, and the median household income is $60K, and 9% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, it reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns. 61% of working residents work locally in Broken Bow, where Nebraska’s towns sit at 33% and U.S. towns at 8%. Of the 45 Nebraska towns we compare, none has a lower property crime rate than Broken Bow. Broken Bow has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Custer County Courthouse and Jail and Arrow Hotel.
Where Broken Bow beats most towns.
Custer County Courthouse and JailWhere Broken Bow’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Nebraska), ordered by how far Broken Bow is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,647 in 1890, 3,506 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1886 and 3 maps from 1951 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Broken Bow, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Broken Bow.
Broken Bow pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Nebraska norm, draws workers from Broken Bow Township and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Broken Bow Public Schools. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Park Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 376 | B |
| Broken Bow High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 234 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NE on state tests and graduation
2,834 jobs are based in Broken Bow, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 8.8 minutes, against 19.2 across Nebraska.
The average trip to work in Broken Bow is 9 minutes. Since 2013, Broken Bow has added 454 jobs, to 2,834 in 2023. The top destinations are Broken Bow Township (3%), Lincoln (3%) and Omaha (3%).
| Broken Bow | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 9 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $70,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8.8% | 11% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Broken Bow grades A− overall with a typical home of about $176K, below the Nebraska typical value; only 8 of the 18 Nebraska towns graded A− or better can say that. At 2.6 years of the county’s $68K median household income, the typical home (about $176K) costs less against local pay than in 91% of Nebraska towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 8.5% in the year to September 2026. 57% of Broken Bow households own their home.
| Broken Bow | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $876 a month | $921 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Among 57 Nebraska towns, just 3 have a higher FEMA risk score than Broken Bow.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Broken Bow has cold winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 13° and about 30 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.5 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Melham Park, at 60 acres.
| Broken Bow | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.5% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Melham Park | 0.3 mi | 60 |
| 2. South Park | — | 2 |
| 3. North Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 8,948 U.S. towns with household incomes like Broken Bow’s, it is healthier than 78%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Broken Bow beats the Nebraska average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 17% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Broken Bow.
| Broken Bow | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 18% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 28% | 25% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 39% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 19% | 16% |
| What stands out | Broken Bow | NE |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 7.8% | 6.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 7.7% | 6.1% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 3.9% | 3.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Broken Bow; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Broken Bow residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Nebraska.
6 places in Broken Bow on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Broken Bow.
City in Nebraska
Broken Bow is a city in Custer County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2020 census, Broken Bow had a population of 3,506. It is the county seat of Custer County.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Broken Bow grades A− overall, better than 81% of U.S. towns and #18 of 57 in Nebraska. It grades B− for health, A for safety and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
8 notable people were born here, including Earl Cooper and Earl J. Atkisson.
