City · Butler County, Nebraska

David City, Nebraska

David City is a city in Butler County, Nebraska. It has 3,017 residents. David City, Nebraska has a quality-of-life score of 91 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,443 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Nebraska it ranks #20 of 119 cities and towns. It ranks best on violent crime rate (low), property crime rate (low) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on mental health providers (low), new business applications (low) and public EV charging ports (low).

91Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,443 of 15,651 cities and towns
Nebraska: #20 of 119 in NE
Population: 3,017 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 719.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 3112315

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety94#900/15,637
Economy50#7,868/15,631
Housing91#1,337/14,977
Health75#3,922/15,609
Healthcare71#4,511/15,650
Environment84#2,505/15,453
Education89#1,697/15,649
Infrastructure58#6,554/15,650
Community91#1,456/15,651
Leisure & amenities48#8,069/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where David City, Nebraska ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Butler County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Violent crime rate · low16 /100k
100/100Nebraska 218 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2022Federal Bureau of InvestigationButler County value
Property crime rate · low125 /100k
100/100Nebraska 1,379 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2022Federal Bureau of InvestigationButler County value
Public libraries · high4.7 /10k
99/100Nebraska 1.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesButler County value
Loneliness · low30.1%
99/100Nebraska 29.8%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Job growth · high5.4%
98/100Nebraska -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataButler County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low98 min
97/100Nebraska 114 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesButler County value

Weaknesses

Mental health providers · low12 /100k
0/100Nebraska 362 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteButler County value
New business applications · low6.7 /1k
1/100Nebraska 11.3 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauButler County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Nebraska 3.9 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyButler County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Nebraska 1.4 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsButler County value
Dentists · low24 /100k
6/100Nebraska 84 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteButler County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low45.8%
8/100Nebraska 84.8%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteButler County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
2,841 (2015-2019) → 3,017 (2020-2024)
+6.2%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
1.0 /1k (2021) → 3.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+262%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
21.9% (2015-2019) → 32.7% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
80.3% (2015-2019) → 90.9% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
10.3% (2015-2019) → 19.2% (2020-2024)
+8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
20.7% (2015-2019) → 27.4% (2020-2024)
+6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, David City, Nebraska improved on 3 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 7 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Bachelor's++11 points21.9% → 32.7%
Broadband+11 points80.3% → 90.9%
Household income+19%$55,000 → $65,573

Declined2

Inequality+0.1100.398 → 0.508
Rent / income+6.7 points20.7% → 27.4%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of David City, Nebraska between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.4 min2015-2019	19.3 min2020-2024	+1.9 min	Within the margin of error	28%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.9%2015-2019	32.7%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	92%
Broadband subscriptions	80.3%2015-2019	90.9%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	62%
Child poverty rate	10.3%2015-2019	19.2%2020-2024	+8.9 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Effective property tax rate	1.27%2015-2019	1.20%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	30%
High school diploma or higher	93.1%2015-2019	89.2%2020-2024	−3.9 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	54%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3982015-2019	0.5082020-2024	+0.110	Declined	4%
Median household income	$55,0002015-2019	$65,5732020-2024	+19%	Improved	31%
Poverty rate	8.5%2015-2019	15.1%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Rent as share of income	20.7%2015-2019	27.4%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Declined	16%
Rent-burdened households	33.8%2015-2019	35.2%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	50%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like David City, Nebraska five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of David City, Nebraska in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, David City, Nebraska itself moved −12.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

3,017 residents (±15)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,251 households (±99)

David City, Nebraska
Nebraska share

Under $25k22%†278
$25k–50k18%†223
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,251 households (±99)

David City, Nebraska
Nebraska share

Own67%837
Rent33%414

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,454 workers (±132)

David City, Nebraska
Nebraska share

Drive alone80%1,169
Carpool8.7%†126
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Butler County, the county holding most of David City's residents.

Butler County has 221 employer establishments, 261 for every 10,000 residents (1.05× the US rate of 248; 0.92× Nebraska's), with 1,967 paid employees at an average annual pay of $62,835. The Census Bureau also counts 637 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 221; 637 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 261; US 248 · Nebraska 284
Paid employees: 1,967
Average annual pay: $62,835; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Butler County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	21	24.8	1.60×More than typical	83	$63,108	45
Truck transportation	17	20.1	3.98×More than typical	55	$59,764	53
Building equipment contractors	12	14.2	2.36×More than typical	48	$63,333	4
Religious organizations	12	14.2	2.56×More than typical	26	$12,115	—
Restaurants and other eating places	11	13	0.71×Fewer than typical	46	$14,674	—
Construction of buildings	9	10.6	1.41×Too few to compare	28	$43,821	20
Services to buildings and dwellings	9	10.6	1.58×Too few to compare	24	$25,583	50
Ambulatory health care services	8	9.5	0.45×Too few to compare	45	$80,111	20
Banks and credit unions	8	9.5	2.93×Too few to compare	65	$78,308	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	8	9.5	2.16×Too few to compare	68	$64,015	9
Automotive repair and maintenance	7	8.3	1.64×Too few to compare	27	$34,704	23
Electrical contractors and wiring installation	7	8.3	3.35×Too few to compare	39	$66,641	3

Rank places for an industry Open Butler County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 8,452 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in David City, Nebraska: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

66.1FY2018
48.6FY2019

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in David City, Nebraska, so they do not add up across cities.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: David City is mostly in Butler County.

See federal money in Butler County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

David City, Nebraska is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mike FloodR-NE-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 0.7%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Butler County97100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Butler County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3112315

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends