City · Saline County, Nebraska

Friend, Nebraska

Friend is a city in Saline County, Nebraska. It has 1,155 residents. Friend, Nebraska has a quality-of-life score of 85 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,324 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Nebraska it ranks #43 of 119 cities and towns. It ranks best on drug overdose deaths (low), public libraries (high) and mammography screening (high). It ranks worst on job growth (low), flu vaccinations (low) and mental health providers (low).

85Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,324 of 15,651 cities and towns
Nebraska: #43 of 119 in NE
Population: 1,155 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,396.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 3117775

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.

Safety85#2,319/15,637
Economy71#4,483/15,631
Housing81#2,887/14,977
Health77#3,668/15,609
Healthcare64#5,710/15,650
Environment77#3,479/15,453
Education56#6,836/15,649
Infrastructure47#8,233/15,650
Community72#4,455/15,651
Leisure & amenities87#2,090/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Friend, Nebraska ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Saline 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

Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Nebraska 6.6 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSaline County value
Public libraries · high4.0 /10k
98/100Nebraska 1.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesSaline County value
Mammography screening · high59.0%
98/100Nebraska 54.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSaline County value
Loneliness · low31.6%
97/100Nebraska 29.8%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Grocery stores · high3.3 /10k
96/100Nebraska 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSaline County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low104 min
95/100Nebraska 114 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSaline County value

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-3.2%
6/100Nebraska -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataSaline County value
Flu vaccinations · low32.0%
11/100Nebraska 47.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSaline County value
Mental health providers · low109 /100k
16/100Nebraska 362 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSaline County value
Primary care physicians · low35 /100k
16/100Nebraska 76 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSaline County value
Natural hazard risk · high80.1
18/100Nebraska 52.42025Federal Emergency Management AgencySaline County value
Distance to an airport · high77 mi
19/100Nebraska 65 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSaline County value

Trends

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

Average commute timeWorsening
20.1 min (2015-2019) → 40.4 min (2020-2024)
+101%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
28.3% (2015-2019) → 47.5% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
77.5% (2015-2019) → 88.3% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$60,625 (2015-2019) → $90,909 (2020-2024)
+50%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
20.3% (2015-2019) → 26.9% (2020-2024)
+6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
20.6% (2015-2019) → 26.3% (2020-2024)
+5.7 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, Friend, Nebraska improved on 2 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 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.

Improved2

Household income+50%$60,625 → $90,909
Broadband+11 points77.5% → 88.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Friend, Nebraska between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.1 min2015-2019	40.4 min2020-2024	+20.2 min	Within the margin of error	0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.3%2015-2019	26.9%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Broadband subscriptions	77.5%2015-2019	88.3%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	63%
Effective property tax rate	1.80%2015-2019	1.27%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	92%
High school diploma or higher	94.0%2015-2019	95.5%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	−0.1×	Within the margin of error	83%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4142015-2019	0.3872020-2024	−0.028	Within the margin of error	73%
Median household income	$60,6252015-2019	$90,9092020-2024	+50%	Improved	84%
Poverty rate	7.5%2015-2019	6.1%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“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 Friend, Nebraska five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Friend, 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, Friend, Nebraska itself moved −1.7 points in standing on average over the same 8 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

1,155 residents (±215)

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

462 households (±72)

Friend, Nebraska
Nebraska share

Under $25k13%†58
$25k–50k10.0%†46
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

462 households (±72)

Friend, Nebraska
Nebraska share

Own85%393
Rent15%†69

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

623 workers (±140)

Friend, Nebraska
Nebraska share

Drive alone82%509
Carpool10%†65
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 Saline County, the county holding most of Friend's residents.

Saline County has 321 employer establishments, 217 for every 10,000 residents (0.87× the US rate of 248; 0.76× Nebraska's), with 5,375 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,669. The Census Bureau also counts 998 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 321; 998 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 217; US 248 · Nebraska 284
Paid employees: 5,375
Average annual pay: $52,669; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	25	16.9	1.09×About typical	148	$62,358	111
Ambulatory health care services	20	13.5	0.65×Fewer than typical	94	$50,798	33
Restaurants and other eating places	18	12.2	0.66×Fewer than typical	177	$13,062	7
Truck transportation	15	10.1	2.01×More than typical	58	$58,879	64
Religious organizations	13	8.8	1.58×More than typical	66	$21,030	—
Banks and credit unions	12	8.1	2.51×More than typical	88	$58,136	—
Building equipment contractors	12	8.1	1.35×More than typical	125	$64,288	15
Construction of buildings	12	8.1	1.07×About typical	39	$37,205	61
Insurance agencies and brokerages	12	8.1	1.85×More than typical	33	$36,848	17
Full-service restaurants	11	7.4	0.97×About typical	97	$9,959	4
Offices of other health practitioners	9	6.1	1.00×Too few to compare	29	$34,379	11
Gasoline stations	8	5.4	1.67×Too few to compare	93	$23,903	—

Rank places for an industry Open Saline County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 14,788 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Saline 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.

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

House

Adrian SmithR-NE-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 1.6%

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.

Saline County83100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Saline 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/3117775

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends