Like all states, Nebraska has certain places that are going on hard times. These Nebraska places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Nebraska.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 32 cities in Nebraska with more than 5,000 people.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Poorest Places In Nebraska For 2025:
What’s the poorest city in Nebraska? According to the facts, Wayne is the poorest place in Nebraska for 2025.
This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
For more Nebraska reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Nebraska
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- Most Dangerous Cities In Nebraska
- The poorest states in the US
- The poorest cities in the US
The 10 Poorest Cities In Nebraska For 2025
1. Wayne
/10
Population: 6,055
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $52,804 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.9% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,203
More on Wayne: Data
Wayne, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Nebraska thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 6,055 people averages the 3rd lowest median household income in Nebraska and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Beatrice
/10
Population: 12,233
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $54,583 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.9% (highest)
People In Poverty: 2,435
More on Beatrice: Data
The second poorest city in Nebraska is Beatrice.
The city ranks as having the highest incidence of poverty and 6th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 23rd highest in the Cornhusker State.
3. Scottsbluff
/10
Population: 14,406
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $53,448 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.1% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,470
More on Scottsbluff: Data
Placing as the third poorest city, Scottsbluff’s median income ranks as the 4th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 17.15% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Cornhusker State.
4. McCook
/10
Population: 7,360
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $51,815 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 16.4% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,209
More on Mccook: Data
McCook ranks as the fourth poorest place in Nebraska.
The town ranks as having the 2nd lowest median household income and the 6th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Holdrege
/10
Population: 5,503
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $55,263 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 18.7% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,029
More on Holdrege: Data
The fifth poorest city in Nebraska is Holdrege.
The city ranks as having the 7th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 3rd highest in Nebraska.
Still not the best news for Holdrege.
6. Chadron
/10
Population: 5,207
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 7)
Median Income: $54,026 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 13.8% (10th highest)
People In Poverty: 718
More on Chadron: Data
Chadron ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Cornhusker State.
It ranks as having the 10th highest incidence of poverty and the 27th highest unemployment rate.
7. North Platte
/10
Population: 23,030
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Income: $57,805 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 16.1% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,705
More on North Platte: Data
North Platte places as the seventh poorest city in Nebraska.
The city of over 23,030 ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Lexington
/10
Population: 10,693
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $62,364 (11th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 16.5% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,767
More on Lexington: Data
Lexington ranks as the eighth poorest city in Nebraska.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
9. Hastings
/10
Population: 25,005
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 3)
Median Income: $61,202 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.8% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,708
More on Hastings: Data
Hastings couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Nebraska; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 9th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Hastings ranks as having the 8th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Nebraska.
10. Sidney
/10
Population: 6,396
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Income: $51,704 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 12.1% (18th highest)
People In Poverty: 773
More on Sidney: Data
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Nebraska is Sidney.
The city of 6,396 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Cornhusker State.
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Nebraska for 2025
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2019-2023 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
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 poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Wayne, crowned the “Poorest Place In Nebraska For 2025”.
This report has been updated for 2025, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Nebraska.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Nebraska For 2025
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest 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 bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Nebraska, according to data:
-
Richest: Gretna
2nd Richest: Papillion
3rd Richest: La Vista
For more Nebraska reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Nebraska
- Safest Places In Nebraska
- Worst Places To Live In Nebraska
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Nebraska
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Nebraska
| Rank | City | Population | Poverty Rate | Median Income | People In Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wayne | 6,055 | 19.9% | $52,804 | 1,203 |
| 2 | Beatrice | 12,233 | 19.9% | $54,583 | 2,435 |
| 3 | Scottsbluff | 14,406 | 17.1% | $53,448 | 2,470 |
| 4 | McCook | 7,360 | 16.4% | $51,815 | 1,209 |
| 5 | Holdrege | 5,503 | 18.7% | $55,263 | 1,029 |
| 6 | Chadron | 5,207 | 13.8% | $54,026 | 718 |
| 7 | North Platte | 23,030 | 16.1% | $57,805 | 3,705 |
| 8 | Lexington | 10,693 | 16.5% | $62,364 | 1,767 |
| 9 | Hastings | 25,005 | 14.8% | $61,202 | 3,708 |
| 10 | Sidney | 6,396 | 12.1% | $51,704 | 773 |
| 11 | Norfolk | 25,962 | 12.7% | $62,175 | 3,291 |
| 12 | Grand Island | 52,761 | 12.5% | $62,439 | 6,610 |
| 13 | Kearney | 34,024 | 13.9% | $69,790 | 4,739 |
| 14 | Nebraska City | 7,287 | 12.6% | $67,993 | 914 |
| 15 | York | 8,114 | 10.8% | $62,632 | 875 |
| 16 | Alliance | 8,089 | 11.3% | $65,599 | 914 |
| 17 | Lincoln | 291,932 | 12.6% | $69,991 | 36,871 |
| 18 | Gering | 8,567 | 12.8% | $70,244 | 1,092 |
| 19 | Omaha | 488,197 | 12.8% | $72,708 | 62,245 |
| 20 | South Sioux City | 13,871 | 10.9% | $68,397 | 1,506 |
| 21 | Fremont | 27,321 | 9.5% | $67,179 | 2,595 |
| 22 | Columbus | 24,188 | 9.7% | $67,212 | 2,346 |
| 23 | Ralston | 6,445 | 7.6% | $65,557 | 492 |
| 24 | Plattsmouth | 6,680 | 5.9% | $64,296 | 394 |
| 25 | Crete | 7,521 | 12.3% | $76,258 | 925 |
| 26 | Blair | 7,868 | 9.7% | $76,292 | 763 |
| 27 | Seward | 7,665 | 7.8% | $70,000 | 594 |
| 28 | Schuyler | 6,517 | 9.2% | $78,380 | 596 |
| 29 | Bellevue | 64,355 | 7.6% | $87,343 | 4,878 |
| 30 | La Vista | 16,594 | 5.6% | $78,145 | 932 |
| 31 | Papillion | 24,063 | 4.2% | $109,602 | 1,008 |
| 32 | Gretna | 9,117 | 3.5% | $118,765 | 319 |