An analysis by the Flatwater Free Press shows Nebraska has lost an estimated 70,000 jobs relative to its regional competitors since 2010, marking a sharp reversal for a state once recognized nationally for creating jobs. The decline became visible last month when Site Selection magazine, an economic development industry publication, failed to list Nebraska in its top 10 development states—the second consecutive year the state missed the ranking.
State business leaders and economists attribute the drop to a combination of workforce shortages, lack of affordable housing, and reduced state focus on economic development initiatives.
The job loss has broader implications for state finances and quality of life. Dana Bradford, past chairman of the Greater Omaha Chamber, said the phenomenon amounts to a “silent killer” for Nebraska’s future, as declining employment means fewer families relocating to the state, less economic activity, and reduced tax collections to support education and other vital services.
A Regional Leader No Longer
Nebraska’s reversal in regional job creation has been both gradual and substantial. In the two decades before 2010, Nebraska’s annual job growth ran 42% higher than the surrounding region—Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Since then, the state has trailed the region’s growth by 6%, according to the Flatwater Free Press analysis of employment data.
The reversal is unmistakable when measured year by year. Nebraska exceeded the regional job growth average in 14 of 19 years prior to 2010. It has trailed the region in 11 of the 16 years since.
Private sector employment in Nebraska was essentially flat over the past two years while Iowa shed 28,000 jobs and the other five regional states combined added 50,000 jobs.
Demographic Shift and Competitive Disadvantage
Around 2010, Nebraska hit what Josie Schafer of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Center for Public Affairs Research calls a “demographic cliff.” The oldest Baby Boomers were beginning to enter their retirement years while the smaller millennial generation was moving into the workforce.
“The Baby Boom generation retiring is such a big deal because … we don’t have a replacement for it,” Schafer said. The resulting worker shortage changed the economic competition fundamentally. States’ attention shifted from chasing companies to chasing people. Nebraska, it appears, has not fared well in that competition.
The state’s brain drain has accelerated under this pressure. In 2010, Nebraska was losing about 1,000 college-educated people annually to migration. By 2020, that figure had quadrupled to 4,000 per year and remains above 3,000 annually.
Bryan Slone, former CEO of the state chamber, attributed some of Nebraska’s vulnerability to the technology boom that began around 2010. Apple sold fewer than 40 million iPhones in 2010 but 230 million by 2015. Nebraska’s tech sector has not kept pace with other states’ expansion.
“It’s very easy in this era to go in a downward spiral … because there’s a chicken and egg,” Slone said. “You can’t grow your economy without young people, but you can’t attract young people without having a growing economy.”
Housing affordability deteriorated sharply. Nebraska’s housing costs, once a major selling point, have risen from the fourth-highest in the seven-state region in 2008 to the second-highest, according to federal cost-of-living data analyzed by the Flatwater Free Press.
Policy Decisions and Their Consequences
In 2019, a blue-ribbon panel of Nebraska leaders produced Blueprint Nebraska, a comprehensive economic development strategy. The plan included recommendations for tax reform, workforce development, and housing construction. Full-scale efforts to implement it never materialized.
The Legislature cut both income and property taxes substantially under Governors Pete Ricketts and Jim Pillen, following one Blueprint recommendation. However, lawmakers did not broaden the state sales tax to offset the lost revenue, as the Blueprint also suggested. The result has been a structural deficit that forced hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to state spending, including tens of millions in economic development programs.
Pillen’s administration reduced staffing at the Nebraska Department of Economic Development by 27% in the past nine months through cuts and attrition. Programs that faced cuts included an internship initiative to address worker shortages, a national marketing campaign to attract workers, housing support funds, and a tax credit for business relocation and hiring costs.
“If you look at the facts, you can easily see (economic development) is not a priority,” said Dana Bradford, the former Omaha chamber chair. “Some people are OK with just focusing on property taxes.”
Eric Thompson, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln economist, assessed the state’s positioning bluntly. “I just don’t think we’ve really had a commitment to growth in the state,” Thompson said. “I just think we’ve been focused on other priorities — and that’s OK. But this is one of the things that happens.”
Signs of Renewed Focus
Policymakers and business leaders have begun shifting attention back to economic development. Pillen introduced a tax incentive bill in April 2026 that the Omaha Chamber of Commerce praised. The measure aims partly to support Union Pacific’s proposed merger with Norfolk Southern, but also contains broader enhancements to the state’s tax incentive programs.
The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also moving to revive economic development as a state priority. At a gathering in La Vista in late February, chamber leaders brought back Lance Fritz, former Union Pacific CEO and Blueprint co-chair, to address hundreds of attendees. His message was simple: “Pick up the ball.”
The chamber has launched an initiative called “Go Big Future” designed to refocus the state on growth-centered goals and competitive strategies from the Blueprint. The effort will concentrate on workforce and technology, with a new focus on ensuring adequate energy supplies for economic expansion.
Matt Williams, the Nebraska Chamber’s interim president, said the state must act urgently. “We have to use new thoughts and new energies and new directions to step up and solve these problems,” Williams said. “The trajectory we are on right now is not going to be healthy for us in the long term.”
Business leaders acknowledge the work will require sustained effort across years. Slone, speaking of Nebraska’s advantages in quality of life, expressed cautious optimism but stressed the scope of the challenge.
“This has to be tackled by government, business, philanthropy and community leaders,” he said. “Everybody.”