Nebraska: 1.98 million residents, 37th of 51 US states (with the District of Columbia). This page lays out the income and housing picture and a trade-by-trade look at the competition.
The state contains 3 metro areas, from Omaha, NE-IA (982,064 people) down to the smallest listed at the end of this page.
Households here bring in a median of $76,475, 5 percent below the national figure. Housing: a median home value of $238,600, 28 percent below the national figure. For a business that sells to homeowners, that combination sets the ceiling on what a job is worth.
The household mix in brief. 34.6% of adults over 25 hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 1 points below the US share. Ownership: 66.5% of households own their home, 1 points above the US share. Median age 37.2, 1.7 years below the national median. Unemployment in the civilian labor force is 3%, 2 points below the US share.
Against its largest metro, the median income is 10 percent lower than the Omaha metro figure, the median home value is 11 percent lower than the Omaha metro figure, and the number of businesses per resident is 11 percent denser than the Omaha metro figure; see the Omaha, NE-IA page for the full figures.
The business base: 56,503 establishments with employees. Set against the population that is 28.6 per 1,000 residents, 14 percent above the national figure, against 25 nationally. Home-services contractors make up 3,395 of those establishments, 6% of the total, 1 points above the US share.
| Business type | Establishments | Per 100k residents | Share ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-storage facilities | 72 | 3.6 | 0.57× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 89 | 4.5 | 1.42× |
| Roofing contractors | 267 | 13.5 | 1.55× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 332 | 16.8 | 2.10× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 352 | 17.8 | 1.22× |
| Automobile dealers | 445 | 22.5 | 1.40× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 480 | 24.3 | 0.71× |
| Beauty salons | 596 | 30.1 | 1.05× |
| Electrical contractors | 668 | 33.8 | 1.19× |
| General automotive repair | 716 | 36.2 | 1.25× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 735 | 37.1 | 0.80× |
| Child day care services | 739 | 37.3 | 1.33× |
| Dentists | 744 | 37.6 | 0.81× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 837 | 42.3 | 1.11× |
| Physicians' offices | 855 | 43.2 | 0.58× |
| Legal services | 889 | 44.9 | 0.73× |
| Personal care services (all) | 919 | 46.4 | 0.85× |
| Landscaping services | 939 | 47.5 | 1.18× |
| General freight trucking | 939 | 47.5 | 1.19× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 3,488 | 176.3 | 0.83× |
Reading the index: 1.00 matches the national mix, 1.50 means half again as common here, 0.50 half as common.
Crowded categories in Nebraska: concrete contractors, roofing contractors, road and paving contractors and automobile dealers. Concrete contractors are the clearest case: 332 establishments, 2.1 times the share they hold nationally. By contrast self-storage operators, physicians' offices, grocery stores and legal services are comparatively scarce in Nebraska. Self-storage operators are the widest shortfall at 72 establishments, about 57% of the US share. Plumbing and HVAC contractors and beauty salons sit near their national proportions.
Three categories dominate by count: restaurants at 3,488, landscaping services at 939 and general freight trucking at 939. Adjusted for population, restaurants are the thickest on the ground (176.3 per 100,000), with landscaping services and general freight trucking next. By sector, automotive businesses are the most over-represented at 1.3 times the US share; medical and dental practices are the least, at about 67% of.
With concrete contractors, roofing contractors and road and paving contractors over-indexed, the cost of a click rises and so does the value of everything that happens after it: a page that loads fast, a number that is answered, a review profile that settles the comparison. Where the base is thin (self-storage operators, physicians' offices and grocery stores), reach beats refinement: cover the service-plus-place searches across the whole area, because there are few competitors to split them with. With a median age 1.7 years below the national median, expect more discovery through maps, short video and AI answers; search alone covers less of the market.
The services that fit this market, given the numbers above. Each links to the full description.
A clean, fast site with one job: make the call happen.
A site assistant that answers questions and captures the lead at any hour.
Paid social that reaches people before they search.
Search advertising that pays for intent, not impressions.
Listing management for the map results that most local searches start and end with.
Search optimization aimed at the local queries that produce calls.
Tell us the trade and the area; we will show you what the competition looks like and what it takes to be found.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023.