Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Columbus gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $270K for a typical one, or 3.6 years of the Columbus area’s $75K median household income. It grades B− overall, 38th among Nebraska's 57 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 75% of U.S. communities, with tornadoes at the top, and its schools rank behind 79% of the state's. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns. 49% of working residents work locally in Columbus, above both Nebraska’s towns (33%) and U.S. towns (8%). Columbus has 9 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Glur's Tavern and Walter and Ruby Behlen House.
Where Columbus beats most towns.
Glur's Tavern
Lucas Cruikshank
Census counts: 526 in 1870, 24,028 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1870 and 3 maps from 1899 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Nebraska), ordered by how far Columbus is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Columbus, 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 Columbus.
Columbus is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has seen reported crime fall by a third or more.
Its public schools are run by the Columbus Public Schools. Two of its 18 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 1,166 | C |
| Columbus High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,337 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NE on state tests and graduation
Since 1978, 33 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Columbus.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Columbus has cold winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 13° and about 26 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
3.3 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Pawnee Park, at 125 acres.
| Columbus | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 3.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wilderness Park Soccer Complex | 0.6 mi | 38 |
| 2. Frankfort Square | 0.3 mi | 2 |
| 3. Pawnee Park | 0.1 mi | 125 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Columbus’ average trip to work is 15 minutes. Since 2013, Columbus has added 1,054 jobs, to 13,719 in 2023. 4.4% of workers work from home in Columbus.
| Columbus | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 15 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 4.4% | 5.6% | 11% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $70,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 363 to 211 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 21 reported in 2025, 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 9,860 U.S. towns with household incomes like Columbus’s, it is healthier than 75%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Columbus beats the Nebraska average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 16% of Columbus adults have been diagnosed with depression. Among 57 Nebraska towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who have obesity than Columbus.
| Columbus | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 39% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 33% |
| What stands out | Columbus | NE |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 13.4% | 9.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 14.7% | 12.3% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 28.4% | 24.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Columbus home is worth about $270,000, up 1.8% in a year, close to the Nebraska typical home. The median rent in Columbus is $892 a month.
| Columbus | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $892 a month | $921 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 66% | 67% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Columbus; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Columbus residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Nebraska.
9 places in Columbus on the National Register of Historic Places.
27 notable people were born in Columbus.
City in and county seat of Platte County, Nebraska, United States
Columbus is the county seat of Platte County, Nebraska, situated at the confluence of the Loup and Platte rivers roughly 85 miles (137 km) west-northwest of Omaha and 75 miles (121 km) northwest of Lincoln by road, near the county's southern edge. With an estimated population of 24,464 as of 2024, it is the 10th-most populous city in Nebraska. Initially settled in May 1856 along the historic Great Platte River Road, the city was named for Columbus, Ohio; its location along the proposed transcontinental railroad made it especially attractive to early settlers. Despite the construction of a hydroelectric plant, the Great Depression hit the region especially hard. Since, its economy has pivote…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Columbus.
| Town | NE rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | #38 | B− | B | B | C− | B− |
| Columbus Township | #40 | C+ | B | — | C | B |
Columbus Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Columbus with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Columbus grades B− overall, better than 46% of U.S. towns and #38 of 57 in Nebraska. It grades B− for health, B for safety and C− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
27 notable people were born here, including Lucas Cruikshank and Jim Pillen.
