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 2026:
What’s the poorest city in Nebraska? According to the facts, Wayne is the poorest place in Nebraska for 2026.
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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- The poorest states in the US
- The poorest cities in the US
The 10 Poorest Cities In Nebraska For 2026
1. Wayne
/10
Population: 6,121
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $53,702 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.9% (highest)
People In Poverty: 1,220
More on Wayne: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Wayne, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Nebraska thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 6,121 people averages the lowest median household income in Nebraska and the 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. Sidney
/10
Population: 6,419
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 8)
Median Income: $54,734 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 16.2% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,037
More on Sidney: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
The second poorest city in Nebraska is Sidney.
The city ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty and 3rd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 13th highest in the Cornhusker State.
3. Holdrege
/10
Population: 5,546
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 2)
Median Income: $55,789 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 16.6% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 918
More on Holdrege: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Placing as the third poorest city, Holdrege’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 16.57% 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. Beatrice
/10
Population: 12,225
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 2)
Median Income: $57,264 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.4% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 2,123
More on Beatrice: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Beatrice ranks as the fourth poorest place in Nebraska.
The town ranks as having the 7th lowest median household income and the 2nd 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. McCook
/10
Population: 7,314
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $56,917 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.3% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,266
More on Mccook: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
The fifth poorest city in Nebraska is McCook.
The city ranks as having the 6th 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 McCook.
6. Scottsbluff
/10
Population: 14,376
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 3)
Median Income: $56,359 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.4% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,221
More on Scottsbluff: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Scottsbluff ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Cornhusker State.
It ranks as having the 6th highest incidence of poverty and the 16th highest unemployment rate.
7. North Platte
/10
Population: 22,831
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $58,097 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.4% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,506
More on North Platte: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
North Platte places as the seventh poorest city in Nebraska.
The city of over 22,831 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. Chadron
/10
Population: 5,160
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Median Income: $54,590 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 13.2% (13th highest)
People In Poverty: 681
More on Chadron: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Chadron 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. Norfolk
/10
Population: 26,054
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 2)
Median Income: $58,884 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.3% (10th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,717
More on Norfolk: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Norfolk 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, Norfolk ranks as having the 10th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Nebraska.
10. Grand Island
/10
Population: 52,884
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Median Income: $63,795 (11th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.2% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 8,043
More on Grand Island: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Nebraska is Grand Island.
The city of 52,884 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 2026
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 2020-2024 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 2026”.
This report has been updated for 2026, which is our eleventh time ranking the poorest places in Nebraska.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Nebraska For 2026
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:
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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 | 6,121 | 19.9% | $53,702 | 1,220 |
| 2 | Sidney | 6,419 | 16.2% | $54,734 | 1,037 |
| 3 | Holdrege | 5,546 | 16.6% | $55,789 | 918 |
| 4 | Beatrice | 12,225 | 17.4% | $57,264 | 2,123 |
| 5 | McCook | 7,314 | 17.3% | $56,917 | 1,266 |
| 6 | Scottsbluff | 14,376 | 15.4% | $56,359 | 2,221 |
| 7 | North Platte | 22,831 | 15.4% | $58,097 | 3,506 |
| 8 | Chadron | 5,160 | 13.2% | $54,590 | 681 |
| 9 | Norfolk | 26,054 | 14.3% | $58,884 | 3,717 |
| 10 | Grand Island | 52,884 | 15.2% | $63,795 | 8,043 |
| 11 | Hastings | 25,008 | 14.8% | $64,048 | 3,696 |
| 12 | Lexington | 10,862 | 13.8% | $67,666 | 1,501 |
| 13 | Alliance | 8,075 | 12.8% | $65,160 | 1,030 |
| 14 | York | 8,141 | 11.5% | $63,265 | 933 |
| 15 | Nebraska City | 7,369 | 12.1% | $67,117 | 894 |
| 16 | Omaha | 488,837 | 13.5% | $73,201 | 65,992 |
| 17 | Kearney | 34,246 | 12.4% | $69,724 | 4,253 |
| 18 | South Sioux City | 13,907 | 12.2% | $68,223 | 1,700 |
| 19 | Lincoln | 294,856 | 12.7% | $71,867 | 37,564 |
| 20 | Columbus | 24,488 | 11.3% | $64,626 | 2,772 |
| 21 | Fremont | 27,567 | 11.6% | $71,152 | 3,197 |
| 22 | Gering | 8,550 | 12.4% | $75,093 | 1,057 |
| 23 | Seward | 7,678 | 9.6% | $72,564 | 734 |
| 24 | Crete | 7,527 | 11.6% | $77,209 | 869 |
| 25 | Ralston | 6,472 | 4.0% | $69,403 | 255 |
| 26 | Plattsmouth | 6,731 | 5.1% | $73,929 | 341 |
| 27 | Blair | 7,914 | 7.8% | $81,452 | 614 |
| 28 | Bellevue | 64,510 | 7.8% | $85,462 | 5,031 |
| 29 | Schuyler | 6,578 | 6.8% | $80,399 | 445 |
| 30 | La Vista | 16,563 | 7.5% | $81,961 | 1,245 |
| 31 | Papillion | 25,244 | 5.2% | $111,679 | 1,325 |
| 32 | Gretna | 9,193 | 4.2% | $123,992 | 386 |