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Place dossier plate
SheetNE-LINCOLN-NE · Lincoln, NE 291,932 pop · income 49th pct · 81 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Lincoln
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lincoln on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
St. Louis · lowest
55,279
St. Louis · lowest
55,279 median HH income
50.9% of the leader · rank #1
Swanton · near
69,985
Swanton · near
69,985 median HH income
64.4% of the leader · rank #2
Lincoln · this city
69,991
Lincoln · this city
69,991 median HH income
64.4% of the leader · rank #3
Steele · near
70,000
Steele · near
70,000 median HH income
64.4% of the leader · rank #4
Kasigluk · near
70,000
Kasigluk · near
70,000 median HH income
64.4% of the leader · rank #5
Crawfordsville · near
70,000
Crawfordsville · near
70,000 median HH income
64.4% of the leader · rank #6
Plano · highest
108,649
Plano · highest
108,649 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Lincoln on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 291,932.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Lincoln - the verdict
Lincoln ranks in the 49th percentile for household income and the 18th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
49th
percentile, household income
55th
percentile, home value
15th
percentile, median rent
18th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Lincoln, NE
291,932 people live in Lincoln, Nebraska - a mid-sized U.S. city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Lincoln report a median income of $69,991 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.3%. Typical homes in Lincoln are valued around $248,200, and the median resident age is 33.4 years. 41.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 67.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 1,730 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier. Lincoln's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2793.7 in FBI UCR data, above the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 51.5°F with 29.5 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in Nebraska run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Nebraska at 90.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,001 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $207 across Nebraska, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Workers in Lincoln report an average commute of 16.5 minutes, with 75.7% driving alone and 10.0% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 25.8 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Lincoln's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to schools and households to housing and income to reported crime to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to within-city variation to climate and hazard context; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lincoln, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
Is Lincoln growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +9,670 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1,730 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 66 public schools within the city match. 41.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Which cities make useful reference points for Lincoln?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Nebraska, the closest population matches are Omaha (488,197 residents, $72,708 income); Bellevue (64,355 residents, $87,343 income); Grand Island (52,761 residents, $62,439 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are St. Louis, MO (293,109 residents); Jersey City, NJ (289,691 residents); Anchorage, AK (289,069 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
PlainCities matches 81 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Lincoln?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.5×
Home value
$248,200
Household income
$69,991
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Lincoln?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2793.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 23% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
2793.7
Violent rate
347.9
Property rate
2445.8
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the journey to work look like in Lincoln?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.7%. The reported mean trip to work is 16.5 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
75.7%
Work from home
10.0%
Public transit
0.9%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 156,772 workers age 16+.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 51.5°F, with 29.5 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Nebraska is 25.8 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
25.8
Annual precipitation
29.5 in
Mean temperature
51.5°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Below median income · poverty 7.3% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.1 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Nebraska average
C
City profile score · Lincoln, NE
56/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living A
90.1 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share B+
41.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate C-
7.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$69,991
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
348 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Lincoln profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 76/100 (B+) · 41.0%
Poverty rate: 51/100 (C-) · 7.3%
Household income: 49/100 (D) · $69,991
Violent crime: 26/100 (F) · 348 /100k
Where Lincoln sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Lincoln's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Lincoln highlighted among 13 peers.Read the chart values
Lincoln, NE (this city): home $248,200, crime 2,794/100k
St. Louis, MO : home $185,100, crime 7,074/100k
Jersey City, NJ : home $534,500, crime 2,591/100k
Anchorage, AK : home $375,900, crime 3,781/100k
Durham, NC : home $355,300, crime 4,419/100k
Plano, TX : home $440,600, crime 1,618/100k
Greensboro, NC : home $221,300, crime 4,307/100k
Omaha, NE : home $230,100, crime 3,531/100k
Bellevue, NE : home $230,800, crime 1,231/100k
Grand Island, NE : home $202,600, crime 2,128/100k
Kearney, NE : home $235,800, crime 1,926/100k
Fremont, NE : home $194,400, crime 2,071/100k
Norfolk, NE : home $199,100, crime 1,346/100k
How does Lincoln compare to other US cities?
Lincoln measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income49% higher than other cities
Home value55% pricier than other cities
Median rent15% pricier than other cities
Safety18% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Nebraska and the picture shifts: Lincoln ranks #41 of 44 Nebraska cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Lincoln against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Nebraska only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Nebraska-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Lincoln near the bottom of Nebraska's cities
Among the 450 Nebraska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lincoln ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lincoln only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#170 of 439
61st percentile in Nebraska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 450
0th percentile in Nebraska
Median Home Value
#19 of 438
96th percentile in Nebraska
Poverty Rate
#185 of 450
58th percentile in Nebraska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#17 of 450
96th percentile in Nebraska
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Nebraska only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
49th percentile nationally for median household income · 18th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Lincoln's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Lincoln's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Lincoln's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$248,20045th percentilemore affordable than 45% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Lincoln's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,168 of 15,516
More affordable than 41% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#28 of 117
Large cities (200,000–999,999)
At 3.5×, Lincoln sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,168 of 15,516 and #28 of 117large cities (200,000–999,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$69,991Lincoln, NE median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lincoln, NE median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Lincoln, NE.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)41.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
291,932
Median Income
$69,991
Median Home Value
$248,200
Median Age
33.4
Poverty Rate
7.3%
Labor force participation
67.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
41.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2793.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
347.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2445.8
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
51.5°F
Annual Precipitation
29.5"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
66
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Lincoln's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
291,852 residents
2021
291,790 residents
2022
293,202 residents
2023
296,221 residents
2024
299,265 residents
2025
301,522 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
1,730
housing units authorized
Single-Family
937
detached homes
Multifamily
793
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
5.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1,727
863
864
$287.6M
2020
1,742
964
778
$303.1M
2021
2,320
1,093
1,227
$499.4M
2022
3,122
943
2,179
$518.6M
2023
1,981
699
1,282
$437.6M
2024
1,730
937
793
$399.7M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
16.5 minutes
Drive Alone
75.7%
Carpool
8.6%
Public Transit
0.9%
Walk
3.2%
Work from Home
10.0%
Other
1.6%
Based on 156,772 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Nebraska statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $207
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Nebraska at $207 (electricity about $100 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Nebraska statewide averages, not a meter reading for Lincoln. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Nebraska's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.1 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Lincoln is $1,001/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Nebraska statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 25.8 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Nebraska statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Lincoln sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lincoln compares to similar-size Nebraska cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.