Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hastings is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 53rd of 57 graded towns in Nebraska, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: it is healthier than 55% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in safety: its crime rate is higher than 75% of U.S. towns, with 59 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. A typical home there costs about $202K, 2.9 years of the Hastings area’s $70K median household income. 54% of working residents work locally in Hastings, against 33% in Nebraska’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Burlington Station and McCormick Hall. Hastings is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns.
Where Hastings beats most towns.
McCormick Hall
Sandy Dennis
Its 19 National Register listings are more than in 94% of Nebraska towns with a listing.
Census counts: 2,817 in 1880, a low of 2,817 in 1880, 25,152 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1969 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Nebraska), ordered by how far Hastings is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hastings, 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 Hastings.
Hastings is healthier than towns with similar incomes, is safe by national standards but not by Nebraska’s and has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of Nebraska.
At 31.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 89% of Nebraska’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 727 to 422 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Hastings’ property crime rate is 14.4 per 1,000 residents. Hastings reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 75% report less. Hastings’ violent crime rate is 2.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Hastings | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.4 per 1,000 residents | 7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Hastings Public Schools. Two of its 13 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 757 | C |
| Hastings Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 991 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NE on state tests and graduation
The typical Hastings home is worth about $202,000, up 1.4% in a year, 27% below the Nebraska typical home. The median rent in Hastings is $858 a month.
| Hastings | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $858 a month | $921 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 67% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 72% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hastings.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
4.8 miles of trail in 23 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Hastings dog park, at 55 acres.
| Hastings | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brickyard Park | 0.6 mi | 27 |
| 2. Lincoln Park | 0.3 mi | 10 |
| 3. Hastings dog park | — | 55 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 15°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 78% of Nebraska places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.8°.
Hastings has chilly winters and warm summers. About 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Hastings | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 15°F | 14°F | 22°F |
| July high | 87°F | 87°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
15% of residents live below the poverty line in Hastings. The top destinations are Grand Island (10%), Lincoln (4%) and Kearney (3%). 3.9% of workers work from home in Hastings.
| Hastings | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 3.9% | 5.6% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $70,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Nebraska average. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Nebraska.
| Hastings | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37.3 years | 37.8 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 24% | 24% | 22% |
51.5% women, 48.5% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Nebraska, 49.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 38.0, men 36.4.
| Hastings | NE | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.2% | 13.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.4% | 11.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.9% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.6% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 13.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.3% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.6% | 11.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.9% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.7% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.3% | 7.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.2% | 25% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.5% | 21.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.8% | 11% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.1% | 22.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.1% | 12.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 9,744 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hastings’s, it is healthier than 77%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
20% of Hastings adults binge drink. Hastings beats the Nebraska average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 30% of Hastings adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Hastings | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 31% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 39% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 23% |
| What stands out | Hastings | NE |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16% | 12.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.3% | 6.1% |
| More adults in fair or poor health | 18.6% | 16.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hastings
About 8 of every 100 Hastings residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Nebraska.
19 places in Hastings on the National Register of Historic Places.
40 notable people were born in Hastings.
City in and county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States
Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 25,152 at the 2020 census, making it the 8th most populous city in Nebraska. Edwin Perkins invented Kool-Aid in Hastings in 1927; the town celebrates the invention with the Kool-Aid Days festival every August. During World War II, Hastings operated the largest Naval Ammunition Depot in the United States, and for this reason was awarded the distinction of American World War II Heritage City by the National Park Service in 2023.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hastings grades C overall, better than 25% of U.S. towns and #53 of 57 in Nebraska. It grades B for health, C 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−.
40 notable people were born here, including Sandy Dennis and Ivan Sutherland.
