New Rankings for Omaha and Nebraska

The City of Omaha and the State of Nebraska frequently score well on national lists. Today we highlight a couple of the most recent rankings.

Best Places to Live for Families in 2024

Omaha ranked #38 on Fortune’s third annual list Best Places to Live for Families

According to the Fortune’s report, “A great place to live is not one that solely supports a family in the present, but one that will serve them for the long term. With a growing portion of Americans caring for both children and aging parents, more people want to live in cities where multigenerational families can thrive. And as the retirement dream is unraveling for many older adults who don’t want to leave the workforce or can’t afford to, finding a place to live that provides a strong job market has never been more critical.”

Fortune analyzed more than 2,000 cities across the country. Those cities at the top of the list scored high on assets like health care, education, affordability and resources for seniors.

Regarding Omaha, Fortune said: “Though the Midwest isn’t known for its tech scene, some consider this startup-friendly city part of “the Silicon Prairie.” And Omaha remains home to several Fortune 500 companies, including Berkshire Hathaway and Union Pacific.”

Of the 50 cities on the list, Omaha was the third largest behind only San Jose, Calif. and Oklahoma City. Most were small towns or suburbs of large cities.

Here’s the top five: 1. Silver Spring, Md.; 2. Upper Merion, Pa.; 3. Chantilly, Va.; 4. Ann Arbor, Mich.; 5. Mason, Ohio.

Hardest-Working States

Newsweek earlier this week reported the hardest-working and least-hardest-working states in the country based on a recent analysis conducted by WalletHub. Nebraska ranked #3.

The report compared all 50 states across 10 indicators, which included average workweek hours, the share of a state’s workers with multiple jobs and average daily leisure time.

States were also compared across two dimensions – “direct” and “indirect” work factors. Direct work factors included measures such as employment rate, workweek hours, and the share of workers leaving vacation time unused. Indirect factors included average commute times, share of workers with more than one job, and the annual volunteer hours per resident.

In addition to ranking third overall, Nebraska had the third-highest percentage of workers with more than one job – 7.4 percent, and the fifth-highest volunteer hours per capita.

With regards to the issue of second jobs, the report said, “Although this may not be an ideal situation, indicating that people’s main jobs are not paying them enough, it’s still a testament to how hard Nebraska residents are willing to work.”

Here are the Top 10 Hardest-Working States:

1. North Dakota
2. Alaska
3. Nebraska
4. Wyoming
5. South Dakota
6. Maryland
7. Texas
8. Colorado
9. New Hampshire
10. Kansas

Here are the Least hard-working states:

1. West Virginia
2. New York
3. Michigan
4. New Mexico
5. Connecticut
6. Nevada
7. Rhode Island
8. New Jersey
9. Ohio
10. Oregon