Scottsbluff, Nebraska

Area Profile

14,376 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Scottsbluff, in Scotts Bluff County.

49out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 16% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity3,277th of 4,199 cities measured43
Schools2,470th of 4,162 cities measured42
Growth2,672nd of 4,224 cities measured44
Housing affordabilityTop 42% of 4,218 cities measured69
Climate3,922nd of 4,225 cities measured56
Physical resilience3,303rd of 4,226 cities measured27
AccessTop 31% of 4,226 cities measured97
Economic stability2,453rd of 4,226 cities measured54
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 3.7% and the Opportunity signal places Scottsbluff in the bottom 22%. The unemployment rate is published for Scotts Bluff County, NE, which contains Scottsbluff, rather than for Scottsbluff alone.

In the public schools here, 48% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.0 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 32% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 1.9 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
14,376
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$56,359
Bottom 33% nationally
Density
2,168/sq mi
6.6 sq mi of land
Median age
38.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Nebraska
Micro area
Nearest major airport
BFF
3 mi · Scottsbluff/Western Nebraska Rgnl/Wm B Heilig Fld
Median home value
$137,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Scotts Bluff County, NE, which contains Scottsbluff, is 3.7%, lower than in 74% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Scotts Bluff County, NE, which contains Scottsbluff, fell 2.5% over the past year, to 16,279 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$7,2242024 ACS 5-Year$56,359Bottom 33%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,1322024 ACS 5-Year$37,223Top 39%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year15.9%Bottom 32%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year13.5 minTop 4%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year26.3%Top 37%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year82.2%67th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentScotts Bluff County, NE’s figureJuly 202616,279Bottom 16%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Scotts Bluff County, NE’s figureJuly 2026−3.0%Bottom 14%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Scotts Bluff County, NE’s figureJuly 2026−2.5%Bottom 13%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceScotts Bluff County, NE’s figureJuly 202616,90016th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year85.8%Top 21%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Scotts Bluff County, NE’s figureJuly 20260.0%Bottom 45%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateScotts Bluff County, NE’s figureJuly 20263.7%Top 26%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%40th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202456k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $56,359 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Scotts Bluff County, NE, which contains this city.

48% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.0 students for every full-time teacher across 8 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.0
across 8 of them
Math proficiency
48.4%
Bottom 44% in Nebraska
Reading proficiency
45.0%
Bottom 31% in Nebraska
The 12 largest of 13 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Scottsbluff Senior High SchoolSCOTTSBLUFF PUBLIC SCHOOLS1,06416.945%42%
Bluffs Middle SchoolSCOTTSBLUFF PUBLIC SCHOOLS75415.137%43%
Westmoor Elementary SchoolSCOTTSBLUFF PUBLIC SCHOOLS40815.157%52%
Longfellow Elementary SchoolSCOTTSBLUFF PUBLIC SCHOOLS37915.866%58%
Roosevelt Elementary SchoolSCOTTSBLUFF PUBLIC SCHOOLS28012.242%32%
Lincoln Heights Elementary SchSCOTTSBLUFF PUBLIC SCHOOLS27912.162%47%
Early Childhood Learning CenterSCOTTSBLUFF PUBLIC SCHOOLS18015.0——
Early Learning CenterEDUCATIONAL SERVICE UNIT 13153.0——
Western Nebrask Child Dev Center (wncdc)EDUCATIONAL SERVICE UNIT 13147.0——
Meridian SchoolEDUCATIONAL SERVICE UNIT 130———
Lifelinks-NebraskaEDUCATIONAL SERVICE UNIT 130———
Harms Adv Tech Center-WnccEDUCATIONAL SERVICE UNIT 130———

56.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Nebraska’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Nebraska is up 46% over five years, and up 3.4% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,124 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.54% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $987, close to the $966 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $987 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $39,500 a year, about 70% of the median household income here of $56,359.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $966 a month.

A median home at $137,700 costs 1.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $73,625, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
31.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$987
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$966
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$137,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Scottsbluff’s median household income of $56,359, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Nebraska’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%54th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Nebraska’s figure2026 Q2+45.6%65th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Nebraska’s figure2026 Q2+86.2%38th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year1.9Top 28%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year59.4%20th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2472024 ACS 5-Year6,69491st percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$758Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,314Top 8%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$987Top 7%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$432024 ACS 5-Year$966Top 50%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,8322024 ACS 5-Year$137,70034th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2172024 ACS 5-Year$2,12458th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,7162024 ACS 5-Year$73,625Bottom 43%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.25%2024 ACS 5-Year1.54%80th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year31.7%Bottom 33%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±482024 ACS 5-Year3177th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%56th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.6%48th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1942024 ACS 5-Year47189th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

44/ 100
Ranks 2,672 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, to 14,323 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 11 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
11
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.8
Bottom 21% nationally
Year over year
+120%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202414k14k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025151.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+167%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 15.7 inches, including 42.5 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 16, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SCOTTSBLUFF HEILIG AP, 3.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year522024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals15.7"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals42.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year162024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
16
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
52
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

27 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hail, inland flooding and drought, with hail alone responsible for 29% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

DroughtModerate
WildfireModerate
HailElevated
Winter weatherModerate
Cold waveElevated
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: ice storm, strong wind, inland flooding, landslide, heat wave, hurricane, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, tsunami, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
672
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
3,064
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Scottsbluff's police department reported 672 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 3,064.

Scotts Bluff County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.6 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 16.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 11.0 per 100,000 residents in Scotts Bluff County.

Homicide
3.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
23.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Scottsbluff’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Scottsbluff (Scotts Bluff County) rather than Scottsbluff itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Scottsbluff/Western Nebraska Rgnl/Wm B Heilig Fld at 3 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year83.9%Bottom 28%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle3 miTop 4%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.9%Bottom 30%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Scottsbluff/Western Nebraska Rgnl/Wm B Heilig FldBFF3 mi8,279 ft
Alliance MuniAIA46 mi9,203 ft
Cheyenne Rgnl/Jerry Olson FldCYS77 mi9,270 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
49
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Scottsbluff

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Scottsbluff with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
6936117,187$58,623$155,10047