Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
O'Neill gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $183K for a typical one, or 2.7 years of the county’s $69K median household income. It grades B+ overall, 25th among Nebraska's 57 graded towns. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. On walkability, just 13 of Nebraska’s 132 towns do better. O'Neill has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Old Nebraska State Bank Building and US Post Office-O'Neill. Only 1 of the 57 Nebraska towns we compare have a higher share of residents below the poverty line than O'Neill.
Where O'Neill beats most towns.
Where O'Neill’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 O'Neill is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 57 in 1880, 3,581 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 2 maps from 1958 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in O'Neill, 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 O'Neill.
O'Neill carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Nebraska (mostly cold waves), trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and draws workers from Scottsbluff and beyond.
1,680 jobs are based in O'Neill, 3.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 11.8 minutes, against 19.2 across Nebraska.
Most working residents leave O'Neill for work: only 10% work in town. At 12 minutes, O'Neill’s average trip to work is below both Nebraska’s towns (17 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2013, O'Neill has lost 372 jobs, to 1,680 in 2023.
| O'Neill | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 12 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.9% | 35% | 8% |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $70,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the O'Neill Public Schools. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is O'Neill High School, with 338 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| O'Neill Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 471 | C+ |
| O'Neill High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 338 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NE on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 98% of Nebraska towns, with expected losses of about $575 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
At 13 of 100, O'Neill’s FEMA risk score is below both the Nebraska town median (58 of 100) and the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100). One flood insurance claim has been paid in O'Neill since 2019.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Homes are within reach (about $183K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 29 miles. At 2.7 years of the county’s $69K median household income, the typical home (about $183K) costs less against local pay than in 82% of Nebraska towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
The median rent in O'Neill is $697 a month. Typical home values rose 11% in the year to September 2026.
| O'Neill | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $697 a month | $921 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 67% | 67% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
O'Neill has cold winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 12° and about 26 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
O'Neill's reported crime rate is well below Nebraska's. O'Neill’s property crime rate is 2.8 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| O'Neill | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.8 per 1,000 residents | 8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
0.2 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves.
| O'Neill | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.1% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Torpin | — | 7 |
| 2. Gil Poese Recreational Area | — | 5 |
| 3. Ford Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 7,883 U.S. towns with household incomes like O'Neill’s, it is healthier than 76%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
O'Neill beats the Nebraska average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 17% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in O'Neill.
| O'Neill | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 18% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 28% | 25% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 19% | 16% |
| What stands out | O'Neill | NE |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.6% | 77.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.5% | 12.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of O'Neill; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 O'Neill residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Nebraska.
7 places in O'Neill on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in O'Neill.
City in Nebraska, United States
O'Neill is a city in Holt County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2020 census, O'Neill had a population of 3,581. It is the county seat of Holt 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. O'Neill grades B+ overall, better than 71% of U.S. towns and #25 of 57 in Nebraska. It grades B− for health and B− for schools.
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 Harry Owens and James A. Donohoe.
