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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
No second income to fall back on. Our model scored 2 cities in Nebraska on solo-living metrics. Lincoln leads at index 94 with rent of $1,293/mo.
No second income to fall back on. Our model scored 2 cities in Nebraska on solo-living metrics. Lincoln leads at index 94 with rent of $1,293/mo.
Why Lincoln ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. And depending on your situation, at 94 on the cost index, residents save roughly 18% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,293/month while the median household pulls in $69,991/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 84, though Healthcare (96) lags behind. Home prices average $285,359 — $182,011 below the national median.
In plain English: Single-income living means absorbing 100% of housing costs. Our model weights rent under $1,300 — we had to double-check this one — (20pts), cost of living (15pts), and city population (10pts) — because a social scene matters when you're on your own. Lincoln at $1,293/mo in a city of 294,757 hits the right balance. Omaha offers a larger city as a runner-up (which, to be fair, is a metric that favors smaller cities).
Balance that against the cost side: Across Nebraska, the average cost of living index is 95 — 17 points below the national median. Known for flyover affordability hiding in plain sight, the state offers 2 tracked cities with median rents averaging $1,348/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — . That's $547 less than the national average of $1,895. The delta here is big enough to fund a retirement account.
Bottom line: Lincoln leads this ranking for clear, data-backed reasons — but the "best" city depends on your priorities. And more often than not, click into any city below to see the full detail page with 12-month trend charts, profession-specific salary data, and a breakdown of all five cost categories. If you're seriously considering a move, use our salary calculator to model your specific income against these numbers (we double-checked this one).
#1 Ranked: Lincoln — cost index 94, rent $1,293/mo, income $69,991
Singles scoring: rent $1,293/mo (solo housing), cost index 94, population 294,757 — livability on one income
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
294,757 residents · Nebraska
Real talk: Lincoln comes in at #1. And roughly speaking, rent is $1,293 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — a month. Household income is $69,991. The cost of living index is 94. That alone makes it worth considering.
483,335 residents · Nebraska
Why Omaha ranks #2: the numbers tell a clear story. At 96 on the cost index, residents save roughly 16% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,403/month while the median household pulls in $72,708/year. The Utilities category is particularly strong at 88, though Healthcare (99) lags behind. Home prices average $288,850 — $178,520 below the national median.
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to singles. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Lincoln ranks #1 in Nebraska for this analysis with a cost index of 94 and median income of $69,991.
Lincoln scores highest for singles due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,293/mo, and competitive median income of $69,991.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Lincoln (ranked #1) has a cost index of 94 and rent of $1,293/mo, while Omaha (ranked #2) has a cost index of 96 and rent of $1,403/mo — a 2-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Lincoln is $1,293/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $602 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Lincoln is $285,359, which is 4.1× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Nebraska has a 5.84% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 6.94%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.54%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.