Ord is a city in Valley County, Nebraska. It has 2,100 residents. Ord, Nebraska has a quality-of-life score of 82 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,874 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Nebraska it ranks #59 of 119 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), pharmacies (high) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on distance to an airport (high), gyms and fitness centers (low) and average weekly wage (low).
82Very high
Quality-of-life score
#2,874 of 15,651 cities and towns
Nebraska
#59 of 119 in NE
Population
2,100 (2020-2024)
Land area
2 mi²
Density
973.8 /mi²
FIPS code
3137280
Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.
Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.
Safety93#1,081/15,637
Economy42#9,031/15,631
Housing99#183/14,977
Health66#5,334/15,609
Healthcare86#2,233/15,650
Environment79#3,192/15,453
Education56#6,901/15,649
Infrastructure38#9,652/15,650
Community95#812/15,651
Leisure & amenities20#12,499/15,651
Strengths · Weaknesses
Indicators where Ord, Nebraska ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Valley 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.
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.
Cities and towns like Ord, Nebraska five years ago that improved
The places whose measures looked most like those of Ord, 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.
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).
Income
How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.
Homes
Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.
Getting to work
How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.
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.
Federal contracts performed here
Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Ord is mostly in Valley County.
Over about five years, Ord, Nebraska improved on 6 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.
Improved6
Rent burden−32 points41.7% → 9.5%
Rent-burdened households
41.7% → 9.5%2015-2019 → 2020-2024
−32 pointsBeyond the margin of error (±16.1 points)
Standing among cities and towns: 69 → 96 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 98% of cities and towns
Inequality−0.1040.472 → 0.368
Income inequality (Gini index)
0.472 → 0.3682015-2019 → 2020-2024
−0.104Beyond the margin of error (±0.073)
Standing among cities and towns: 20 → 83 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 96% of cities and towns
Rent / income−11 points27.4% → 16.6%
Rent as share of income
27.4% → 16.6%2015-2019 → 2020-2024
−11 pointsBeyond the margin of error (±4.8 points)
Standing among cities and towns: 61 → 98 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 94% of cities and towns
Property tax−0.5 points1.75% → 1.28%
Effective property tax rate
1.75% → 1.28%2015-2019 → 2020-2024
−0.5 pointsBeyond the margin of error (±0.4 points)
Standing among cities and towns: 23 → 32 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 89% of cities and towns
Broadband+9.6 points76.7% → 86.2%
Broadband subscriptions
76.7% → 86.2%2015-2019 → 2020-2024
+9.6 pointsBeyond the margin of error (±6.5 points)
Standing among cities and towns: 33 → 25 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 58% of cities and towns
Declined0
No measure declined by more than its margin of error.
All 13 measures
Change of every measure of Ord, Nebraska between two periods about five years apart
Measure
Before
After
Change
Reading
Favourable vs peers
Average commute time
16.6 min2015-2019
13.5 min2020-2024
−3.0 min
Within the margin of error
79%
Bachelor's degree or higher
24.8%2015-2019
26.5%2020-2024
+1.6 points
Within the margin of error
40%
Broadband subscriptions
76.7%2015-2019
86.2%2020-2024
+9.6 points
Improved
58%
Effective property tax rate
1.75%2015-2019
1.28%2020-2024
−0.5 points
Improved
89%
High school diploma or higher
91.7%2015-2019
94.3%2020-2024
+2.6 points
Within the margin of error
65%
Home price to income ratio
2.1×2015-2019
2.1×2020-2024
−0.0×
Within the margin of error
79%
Income inequality (Gini index)
0.4722015-2019
0.3682020-2024
−0.104
Improved
96%
Median household income
$46,8902015-2019
$57,8182020-2024
+23%
Improved
40%
Poverty rate
12.0%2015-2019
11.1%2020-2024
−0.9 points
Within the margin of error
53%
Public transit commuters
0.0%2015-2019
0.0%2020-2024
0 points
Within the margin of error
60%
Rent as share of income
27.4%2015-2019
16.6%2020-2024
−11 points
Improved
94%
Rent-burdened households
41.7%2015-2019
9.5%2020-2024
−32 points
Improved
98%
Uninsured residents (under 65)
9.2%2015-2019
6.7%2020-2024
−2.5 points
Within the margin of error
73%
“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.
For comparison, Ord, Nebraska itself moved +14.3 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.
Household income
966 households (±95)
Ord, Nebraska
Nebraska share
Under $25k17%†168
Under $25k
17%±5.2 points
168 households±53 (90% margin of error)
14%in Nebraska
15%in United States
−9.0 pointssince 2015–2019
Wide margin of error: read with care
$25k–50k16%†158
$25k–50k
16%±5.3 points
158 households±54 (90% margin of error)
18%in Nebraska
17%in United States
−9.0 pointssince 2015–2019
Wide margin of error: read with care
$50k–75k35%340
$50k–75k
35%±9.0 points
340 households±93 (90% margin of error)
17%in Nebraska
16%in United States
+19.3 pointssince 2015–2019
$75k–100k11%†105
$75k–100k
11%±4.4 points
105 households±44 (90% margin of error)
14%in Nebraska
13%in United States
−4.8 pointssince 2015–2019, within the margin of error
Wide margin of error: read with care
$100k–150k14%†132
$100k–150k
14%±5.2 points
132 households±52 (90% margin of error)
19%in Nebraska
18%in United States
+3.9 pointssince 2015–2019, within the margin of error
Wide margin of error: read with care
$150k–200k4.3%†42
$150k–200k
4.3%±2.8 points
42 households±27 (90% margin of error)
9.1%in Nebraska
9.6%in United States
+0.9 pointssince 2015–2019, within the margin of error
Wide margin of error: read with care
$200k or more2.2%†21
$200k or more
2.2%±1.7 points
21 households±17 (90% margin of error)
9.4%in Nebraska
13%in United States
−1.3 pointssince 2015–2019, within the margin of error
Wide margin of error: read with care
Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $50k–75k (+19.3 points).
† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.
The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Valley County, the county holding most of Ord's residents.
Valley County has 181 employer establishments, 449 for every 10,000 residents (1.81× the US rate of 248; 1.58× Nebraska's), with 1,230 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,739. The Census Bureau also counts 461 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.
Establishments
181
461 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
449
US 248 · Nebraska 284
Paid employees
1,230
Average annual pay
$43,739
US $68,342
Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Valley County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation
County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)
Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 4,034 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.
No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.
