Gretna, Papillion, Seward: These cities aren’t just some of the best places to live in Nebraska. They are also home to some of the richest people in the Cornhusker State.
Gretna in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $69,592 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 6.4567876478845%.
If you’re thinking of moving to one of these towns, you’ll probably need to start saving. The richest places in Nebraska share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.
How did we come up with these mega wealthy cities? We analyzed Census data from the 2016-2020 American Community Survey for the 32 places in Nebraska with more than 5,000 people.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list of the richest cities in Nebraska.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Nebraska:
The 10 Richest Cities In Nebraska For 2022
1. Gretna
/10
Population: 5,039
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $69,592
Unemployment Rate: 0.3%
Poverty Rate: 6.5%
More on Gretna: Real Estate | Photos
2. Papillion
/10
Population: 24,310
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $90,000
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%
Poverty Rate: 4.0%
More on Papillion: Real Estate | Photos
3. Seward
/10
Population: 7,210
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $66,190
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%
Poverty Rate: 9.3%
More on Seward: Real Estate | Photos
4. La Vista
/10
Population: 17,081
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $70,184
Unemployment Rate: 3.8%
Poverty Rate: 5.4%
More on La Vista: Real Estate | Photos
5. Ralston
/10
Population: 7,305
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Median Income: $60,106
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Poverty Rate: 8.3%
More on Ralston: Real Estate | Photos
6. Columbus
/10
Population: 23,291
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Median Income: $57,919
Unemployment Rate: 3.1%
Poverty Rate: 8.3%
More on Columbus: Real Estate | Photos
7. Schuyler
/10
Population: 6,269
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 2)
Median Income: $64,657
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%
Poverty Rate: 13.8%
More on Schuyler: Real Estate | Photos
8. Bellevue
/10
Population: 63,970
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 3)
Median Income: $70,647
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%
Poverty Rate: 9.1%
More on Bellevue: Real Estate | Photos
9. Gering
/10
Population: 8,179
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 1)
Median Income: $62,764
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%
Poverty Rate: 8.4%
More on Gering: Real Estate | Photos
10. York
/10
Population: 7,810
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Median Income: $58,125
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 8.9%
More on York: Real Estate | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Richest Places In Nebraska For 2022
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2016-2020 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 32 places with more than 5,000 people in Nebraska, we ranked each place from 1 to 32 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Gretna, crowned the “Richest City In Nebraska For 2022”. You can download the data here.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 32 places.
Summary: The Wealthiest Places In Nebraska For 2022
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Nebraska, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Nebraska.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Nebraska, according to data:
Poorest: Scottsbluff
2nd Poorest: Wayne
3rd Poorest: Crete
For more Nebraska reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Nebraska
| Rank | City | RichScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gretna | 2.67 |
| 2 | Papillion | 4.67 |
| 3 | Seward | 6.0 |
| 4 | La Vista | 7.67 |
| 5 | Ralston | 8.33 |
| 6 | Columbus | 10.33 |
| 7 | Schuyler | 10.67 |
| 8 | Bellevue | 12.0 |
| 9 | Gering | 13.67 |
| 10 | York | 14.0 |
| 11 | Kearney | 14.67 |
| 12 | Lincoln | 14.67 |
| 13 | Sidney | 14.67 |
| 14 | Blair | 15.33 |
| 15 | Omaha | 15.33 |
| 16 | Holdrege | 16.33 |
| 17 | Chadron | 16.33 |
| 18 | Hastings | 17.0 |
| 19 | Grand Island | 18.33 |
| 20 | Plattsmouth | 18.67 |
| 21 | North Platte | 19.33 |
| 22 | Nebraska City | 20.33 |
| 23 | Alliance | 21.0 |
| 24 | Fremont | 21.67 |
| 25 | Mccook | 22.0 |
| 26 | South Sioux City | 22.0 |
| 27 | Beatrice | 23.0 |
| 28 | Norfolk | 23.67 |
| 29 | Lexington | 25.0 |
| 30 | Crete | 25.33 |
| 31 | Wayne | 26.0 |
| 32 | Scottsbluff | 27.33 |
