Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Grand Island grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns, mostly because of schools and safety. Its schools rank behind 85% of the state's. Its crime rate is higher than 78% of U.S. towns, with 206 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. It also has a long history, with 25 places on the National Register. 65% of working residents work locally in Grand Island, above both the Nebraska town median (33%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Grand Island FCC Monitoring Station and Hall County Courthouse. On civic life, just 6 of Nebraska’s 127 towns do worse.
Where Grand Island beats most towns.
William Stolley Homestead and Site of Fort Independence| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Central Community College | 2,842 |
Henry Fonda
Its 25 National Register listings are more than in 96% of Nebraska towns with a listing.
Census counts: 1,057 in 1870, 53,131 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1863 and 5 maps from 1892 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Nebraska), ordered by how far Grand Island is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Grand Island, 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 Grand Island.
Grand Island is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Nebraska’s.
Its public schools are run by the Grand Island Public Schools. Two of its 26 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 777 | D |
| Grand Island Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,696 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NE on state tests and graduation
At 34 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 94% of Nebraska’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,301 to 1,117 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Grand Island’s violent crime rate is 3.9 per 1,000 residents. Grand Island reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 78% report less. Grand Island’s property crime rate is 17.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Grand Island | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.9 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.1 per 1,000 residents | 7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 53 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Grand Island.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Grand Island has cold winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 15° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average trip to work in Grand Island is 17 minutes. The top destinations are Lincoln (4%), Hastings (3%) and Kearney (3%). 15% of Grand Island residents live below the poverty line.
| Grand Island | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 4.2% | 5.6% | 11% |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $70,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Grand Island home is worth about $253,000, down 0.7% in a year, 9% below the Nebraska typical home. 58% of households own their home in Grand Island.
| Grand Island | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 58% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $947 a month | $907 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 48% | 43% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
8.2 miles of trail in 19 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Fonner Park, 257 acres with 1.7 miles of trail.
| Grand Island | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 3.9% | 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. Fonner Park | 1.7 mi | 257 |
| 2. Eagle Scout Park | 1 mi | 53 |
| 3. Ryder Park | 0.8 mi | 45 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 9,697 U.S. towns with household incomes like Grand Island’s, it is healthier than 67%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Grand Island beats the Nebraska average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. Among 57 Nebraska towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who worry about having enough food than Grand Island.
| Grand Island | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 9.7% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 18% | 23% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 76% | 79% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 28% | 25% |
| What stands out | Grand Island | NE |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.4% | 8.3% |
| More uninsured adults | 17.5% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Grand Island
About 3 of every 100 Grand Island residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Nebraska.
25 places in Grand Island on the National Register of Historic Places.
33 notable people were born in Grand Island.
City in and county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States
Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 53,131 at the 2020 census, making it the 4th most populous city in Nebraska. Grand Island is the principal city of the Grand Island metropolitan area, which consists of Hall, Merrick, and Howard counties. The Grand Island metropolitan area has an official population of 83,472 residents. Grand Island has been given the All-America City Award four times (1955, 1967, 1981, and 1982) by the National Civic League. Grand Island is home to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center, which is the sole agency responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state, as well as th…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Grand Island grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns. It grades B− for health, C− for safety and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($69,704 across the Grand Island, NE metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
33 notable people were born here, including Henry Fonda and Edith Abbott.
