Many towns along the Platte River rank among the richest places in Nebraska, most of them centered … More
In a series of recent studies, states have been analyzed in terms of their household finances, home values, and property taxes, the point of which is to determine the richest cities in those states. Much of the Midwest and states of the Great Plains have been covered, including the richest cities in North Dakota, Kansas, and Illinois (the Prairie State). For this article, it is Nebraska’s turn to get analyzed.
Out of 592 places in Nebraska that the Census Bureau has data on, there are 512 cities in Nebraska with complete data for the financial datasets used: Their median household income, mean (average) household income, median home value, and median property taxes paid per year. These were used to come up with a list of the 15 richest cities in the state.
Read on to find out what the richest city in Nebraska is, plus the top 15 wealthiest cities in the state overall.
What Are The Richest Cities In Nebraska?
In order to compile this list of the richest cities in Nebraska, some important financial data was sourced from the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey. These data points included these four datasets: 1) median household income, 2) mean household income, 3) median home value, 4) median property taxes paid per household. Once these were gathered, they were scored using and the sum of their individual scores used to rank them.
It is important to note some things that the Census Bureau does with its data. For a couple factors, the Census numbers have upper limits, so there’s no exact value for certain factors. When it comes to median household income, for example, the Census Bureau has an upper limit of “$250,000+”, so no median incomes are recorded above $250,000. For median home value, the upper limit is “$2,000,000+”. For median property taxes paid, the upper limit is “$10,000+”. Because of this, the mean household income (which is the same as average household income) dataset is crucial because the Census Bureau has exact figures for it. All four of these metrics were scored, added up, and then ranked by the cities’ combined scores.
Another feature of the census to point out is the use of Census-designated places. The census essentially treats CDPs as cities, though in many cases the terminology is “place.” This list of the richest cities in Nebraska uses this classification. Thus, if you see cities on this list that may be part of a larger township or you consider a neighborhood, it’s because the Census Bureau has designated it as a “place.”
You’ll find a table detailing the top 15 richest cities in Nebraska and their respective dollar figures for each metric, below:
The No. 1 richest place in Nebraska in this ranking is Woodland Hills, an unincorporated community east of Lincoln. This place is essentially centered on Woodland Hills Golf Course. It has two segments where its homes are located, one in the western half of the town and other in the northeast corner. This is a very small place, both in surface area and in terms of residences, with only 86 households. The median household income here is $134,022. The average household income is $169,172, the highest in the state. The median home value reported by the Census Bureau is $419,400, the fourth highest in Nebraska. Its property taxes are on the high end, at a median of $4,793 paid per household, but several towns have much higher figures.
Beaver Lake came in as the No. 2 wealthiest city in Nebraska. This place is due south of Omaha and just west of the Missouri River. So many lake towns have made the top of these richest cities list and Beaver Lake is no different. Centered on Beaver Lake, this is a beautiful town of 766 households. Beaver Lake Marina is located in the northeast corner, while Lake Ridge Golf Course is on the south shore. The median household income here is slightly higher than Woodland Hills, at $136,364. The average income is slightly lower, at $166,788. Compared to other states’ wealthiest cities, the median home value is reported as $384,500, though sale prices are likely higher. The median property taxes paid by household is $4,221, which isn’t too bad.
Coming in as the No. 3 richest city in Nebraska is Lake Waconda. This place is south of Beaver Lake and just as exquisite. Oddly, like Beaver Lake, it also has 86 households. It has the second highest median household income in Nebraska, at $140,221. Interestingly, its average household income is lower, at $134,883, which is not that common. Also interesting, the reported median home value here is $339,200, though it’s likely they increased since the time of the 2023 American Community Survey. The property taxes paid by households, on the other hand, are the highest in the state: the median is $8,971 per household.
The Bottom Line On The Richest Cities In Nebraska
The top five wealthiest places in Nebraska are all centered on some kind of body of water: No. 1 Woodland Hills, Beaver Lake, Lake Waconda, Valley (which has a series of enclosed bodies of water off the Platte River), and Buccaneer Bay (which has two enclosed lakes and is south of the Platte River). The largest of the 15 wealthiest cities in Nebraska is Papillon, an oddly shaped city southwest of Omaha that’s home to 9,247 households.