Nebraska · NCES CCD 2024-25

Best Public Schools in Nebraska

Top 50 schools ranked by resource quality score, based on student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance.

Reviewed by PlainSchools Editorial, K12 Schools Editorial Team · June 10, 2026

78/100
Top score: B+
Top grade: 70/100
Avg score (top 50): 50
Schools ranked

The ranking in one line

Hampton Elementary School in HAMPTON is Nebraska's top-resourced public school, scoring 78/100 on the NCES resource index.

78/100
top score (grade B+): 5
schools at the top grade (B+): 70/100
average across the top 50

#	School	Grade	Enrollment	Student:Teacher	District	Score
1	Hampton Elementary School HAMPTON	B+	112	11:1	HAMPTON PUBLIC SCHOOL	78
2	Htrs Elementary School HUMBOLDT	B+	175	7.9:1	HUMBOLDT TABLE ROCK STEINAUER	77
3	Bloomfield Jr-Sr High School BLOOMFIELD	B+	141	10.5:1	BLOOMFIELD COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	76
4	Clarkson Elementary School CLARKSON	B+	106	9.8:1	CLARKSON PUBLIC SCHOOLS	76
5	Ponca High School PONCA	B+	198	10.6:1	PONCA PUBLIC SCHOOLS	75
6	Diller-Odell Elem School DILLER	B	137	9.8:1	DILLER-ODELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS	73
7	Paxton High School PAXTON	B	105	9.7:1	PAXTON CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS	73
8	Mc Cool Junction Elem School MCCOOL JUNCTION	B	119	13.3:1	MC COOL JUNCTION PUBLIC SCHS	72
9	Lake Maloney Elementary School NORTH PLATTE	B	116	14.4:1	NORTH PLATTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS	72
10	Ainsworth High School AINSWORTH	B	104	7.4:1	AINSWORTH COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	71
11	So Platte Elem at Big Springs BIG SPRINGS	B	103	12.2:1	SOUTH PLATTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS	71
12	Roosevelt Elementary School SCOTTSBLUFF	B	280	11.9:1	SCOTTSBLUFF PUBLIC SCHOOLS	70
13	Bloomfield Elementary School BLOOMFIELD	B	146	11.3:1	BLOOMFIELD COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	70
14	Dorchester Elementary School DORCHESTER	B	141	12:1	DORCHESTER PUBLIC SCHOOL	70
15	Ainsworth Elementary School AINSWORTH	B	138	9.6:1	AINSWORTH COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	70
16	Winside Elementary School WINSIDE	B	136	11.3:1	WINSIDE PUBLIC SCHOOLS	70
17	Maxwell Elementary School MAXWELL	B	124	11.1:1	MAXWELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS	70
18	Meridian Elementary School DAYKIN	B	114	12.2:1	MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS	70
19	Wisner-Pilger Elem School WISNER	B-	306	12.5:1	WISNER-PILGER PUBLIC SCHOOLS	69
20	Yutan Elementary School YUTAN	B-	272	13.4:1	YUTAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS	69
21	Prairie Lane Elementary School OMAHA	B-	269	13.6:1	WESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	69
22	Oakland Craig Elementary OAKLAND	B-	237	11.7:1	OAKLAND CRAIG PUBLIC SCHOOLS	69
23	Perkins County Junior- Senior High School GRANT	B-	188	9.9:1	PERKINS COUNTY SCHOOLS	69
24	Palmer Elementary School PALMER	B-	184	16:1	PALMER PUBLIC SCHOOLS	69
25	Plainview Secondary School PLAINVIEW	B-	151	8.9:1	PLAINVIEW PUBLIC SCHOOLS	69
26	Mccool Junction Jr-Sr High Sch MCCOOL JUNCTION	B-	128	10:1	MC COOL JUNCTION PUBLIC SCHS	69
27	Elementary School at Brainard BRAINARD	B-	124	12.1:1	EAST BUTLER PUBLIC SCHOOLS	69
28	Ansley Elementary School ANSLEY	B-	110	12.1:1	ANSLEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS	69
29	Osmond Elementary School OSMOND	B-	106	12.7:1	OSMOND COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	69
30	Crofton High School CROFTON	B-	171	9.4:1	CROFTON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	68
31	Intermediate School at Jr/Sr High School RAYMOND	B-	155	12:1	RAYMOND CENTRAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS	68
32	Wood River Rural High School WOOD RIVER	B-	145	9.1:1	WOOD RIVER RURAL SCHOOLS	68
33	Palmer Junior-Senior High PALMER	B-	129	10.4:1	PALMER PUBLIC SCHOOLS	68
34	Ainsworth Middle School AINSWORTH	B-	107	11.6:1	AINSWORTH COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	68
35	Clarkson Jr-Sr High School CLARKSON	B-	106	9.7:1	CLARKSON PUBLIC SCHOOLS	68
36	Diller-Odell Secondary School ODELL	B-	105	9:1	DILLER-ODELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS	68
37	Rockbrook Elementary School OMAHA	B-	278	14.5:1	WESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	67
38	So Valley Elementary School OXFORD	B-	252	12.1:1	SOUTHERN VALLEY SCHOOLS	67
39	Ashland-Greenwood Middle School ASHLAND	B-	247	14:1	ASHLAND-GREENWOOD PUBLIC SCHS	67
40	Washington Elementary School NORTH PLATTE	B-	226	13.3:1	NORTH PLATTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS	67
41	Southern Elementary School BLUE SPRINGS	B-	198	9.9:1	SOUTHERN SCHOOL DISTRICT 1	67
42	West Point - Beemer Middle School WEST POINT	B-	181	11.7:1	WEST POINT PUBLIC SCHOOLS	67
43	Sutherland Elementary School SUTHERLAND	B-	164	13.8:1	SUTHERLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS	67
44	Boone Central Middle School ALBION	B-	146	13.9:1	BOONE CENTRAL SCHOOLS	67
45	Cambridge Elementary School CAMBRIDGE	B-	127	13:1	CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS	67
46	Leyton Elementary/Junior High School GURLEY	B-	125	6.1:1	LEYTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS	67
47	High School at Johnson JOHNSON	B-	118	12.4:1	JOHNSON-BROCK PUBLIC SCHOOLS	67
48	Meridian High School DAYKIN	B-	105	9.3:1	MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS	67
49	Oakdale Elementary School OMAHA	B-	312	15.4:1	WESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	66
50	Sunset Hills Elementary School OMAHA	B-	301	15.6:1	WESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	66

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best public schools in Nebraska? ▼

The top-rated school in Nebraska is Hampton Elementary School in HAMPTON with a quality score of 78/100 (grade B+). Rankings are based on student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted programs, and attendance rates from NCES data.

How are school quality scores calculated? ▼

Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data across 4 metrics: student-teacher ratio (lower is better, national avg ~16:1), counselor availability (ASCA recommends 250:1), gifted program availability, and chronic absenteeism rate (lower is better). This measures school resources, not test scores.

Explore More for Nebraska

All Schools → Largest Schools → Absenteeism Data → Highest Spending → National Ranking →

Methodology

Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 metrics: student-teacher ratio, school counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism rates. Schools must have at least 50 students and data for one or more metrics. This measures resource quality, not test scores. Higher scores indicate smaller class sizes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.