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If you've just punched your last time card and are looking to retire somewhere in the Cornhusker State, read on. We've done the research to determine which places in Nebraska have the most going on for retirees.
Nebraska may not immediately come to mind when you're thinking of places to retire, but it turns out the place that raised Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando, and Henry Fonda is also a pretty great place to live for some of their contemporaneous fans. And if you're into archaeology, Nebraska's a great place to check out some ice-age goodies, including the largest mammoth fossil ever found. Or if your favorite college sports teams are letting you down of late, you can switch allegiance and become a Cornhuskers fan. Maybe you just really love rocky mountain oysters and cheese frenchees and want to live in the state that does them best. Whatever your motivation, there's plenty of super spots to choose from for retired folks.
Just where are these great places for retirees? 40% of them are out in the Nebraska Panhandle (Sidney, Alliance, Gering, and Chadron), with (Sidney actually being closer to Denver than any big Nebraska cities. If you'd rather be close to the action, Blair is the best Omaha suburb for retirees, while Beatrice takes the a ten finish for Lincoln suburbs.
Whether you're looking for a change of pace and scenery by retiring in Nebraska, or are already a local looking for greener pastures, read on to learn which places are the best of the best for retirees.
Why did Beatrice take the top spot? And where are Omaha and Lincoln?
You can't really go wrong if you end up retiring in any of these Nebraska cities. Incidentally, a good number of the cities on this list were also among the best places to live in Nebraska, so you know that they're all-around good places for folks of all stages of life.
If you're wondering how we determined which cities are the best for retirees, wonder no more. We started by narrowing down our search of cities with at least 5,000 people, leaving us with 29 Nebraska cities to rank. Using data from the Census, the FBI's Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights, we ranked each of the 29 cities by cost of living, crime rates, median age, good weather, things to do, and nearby airports (for family visits). Those with the overall best rankings for these metrics made it onto this list.
But what city is #1 for retired people in Nebraska? According to the data, Beatrice is the best place to retire in Nebraska for 2023.
For more Nebraska state reading:
- Best Places To Live In Nebraska
- Cheapest Places To Live In Nebraska
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Nebraska
- Best Places To Retire In America
The 10 Best Places To Retire In Nebraska For 2023
/10
Population: 12,276
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 3)
Median Rent: $624
Distance to Closest Airport: 127 miles
More on Beatrice: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 5,485
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 6)
Median Rent: $687
Distance to Closest Airport: 259 miles
More on Holdrege: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 7,725
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 6)
Median Rent: $816
Distance to Closest Airport: 127 miles
More on Blair: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 8,521
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 8)
Median Rent: $780
Distance to Closest Airport: 145 miles
More on Gering: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 8,091
Rank Last Year: -
Median Rent: $809
Distance to Closest Airport: 186 miles
More on York: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 5,376
Rank Last Year: -
Median Rent: $719
Distance to Closest Airport: 175 miles
More on Chadron: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 6,473
Rank Last Year: 17 (Up 10)
Median Rent: $810
Distance to Closest Airport: 125 miles
More on Sidney: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 5,847
Rank Last Year: -
Median Rent: $741
Distance to Closest Airport: 179 miles
More on Wayne: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 6,526
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 4)
Median Rent: $753
Distance to Closest Airport: 175 miles
More on Schuyler: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 23,875
Rank Last Year: 21 (Up 11)
Median Rent: $997
Distance to Closest Airport: 126 miles
More on Papillion: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In the Cornhusker State for 2023
To create our list of the best places in Nebraska to retire, we first used Census data to find all places in the Cornhusker State -- 573 cities and towns.
We then narrowed it down to places with at least 5,000 people that weren't townships. This left us with 29 places from across the state.
For these 29, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI's Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:
- Low cost of living as measured by rent
- Low crime
- Things to do (Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in town)
- Nice weather
- Distance to the closest international airport
- Other retirees (High median age)
We then ranked each of these places for each criteria from one to 29, with the lowest number being the best.
Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Beatrice, with the lowest average rank was crowned the best of the best, a place for you to start your second careers. You can download the data here.
Summary: Maybe You're Not Ready To Retire In Nebraska Yet...
So there you have it, the best place to retire in Nebraska goes to Beatrice.
If you're not ready to hang up your office apparel yet, then these places might be up your alley:
- Lexington
- Grand Island
- Lincoln
For more Nebraska reading, check out:
