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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
"Affordable" for students means: can rent fit a part-time paycheck? Are groceries reasonable? We analyzed 2 cities in Nebraska, weighting rent and food highest. Lincoln takes the top spot (your mileage may vary — literally).
#1 Ranked: Lincoln — cost index 94, rent $1,293/mo, income $69,991
Student-budget scoring: rent $1,293/mo, food index 92, cost index 94 — survival-level affordability
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
"Affordable" for students means: can rent fit a part-time paycheck? Are groceries reasonable? We analyzed 2 cities in Nebraska, weighting rent and food highest. Lincoln takes the top spot (your mileage may vary — literally).
Dive into Lincoln's numbers: cost index 94 (18 points below national average), rent $1,293/month, income $69,991, and a home price of $285,359. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 84, while Healthcare runs 96. With 294,757 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
Student affordability boils down to three survival metrics: rent under $1,200/month (25pts), overall cost index (20pts), and food costs (10pts). Lincoln leads at $1,293/month rent with a food index of 92 — 8% below the national food cost baseline. Omaha is close behind at $1,403/month.
Look, Contrast this with: Here's the state-level backdrop: Nebraska averages a 95 cost index, $1,348/mo rent, and $71,350 income across 2 cities. That's $547 less than the national rent average. Flyover affordability hiding in plain sight — and that context shapes every city in this ranking.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours.
294,757 residents · Nebraska
A closer look at Lincoln: the cost index of 94 breaks down to a Housing index of 84 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 96 (weakest). Median rent is $1,293/month — 32% below the national median — while household income sits at $69,991, meaning locals spend about 22% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard.
483,335 residents · Nebraska
A closer look at Omaha: the cost index of 96 — for better or worse — breaks down to a Utilities index of 88 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 99 (weakest). That's about what we'd expect given the state context. Median rent is $1,403/month — 26% below the national median — while household income sits at $72,708, meaning locals spend about 23% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard.
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to students. 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 students 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 6.64% 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.