Nebraska Is The Absolute BEST Place To Live... Here's Why

If you ask most people who have never had the good fortune to live in Nebraska, they would probably tell you that it’s not exactly at the top of their list of places to move. But a new study says that those people are way off the mark. The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis found that Nebraska’s largest city is one of only three US cities that meet the three most popular criteria for desirable places to live.

Oregon Office of Economic Analysis

He weighed the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country in the categories of Affordability, Quality of Life, and Economic Strength. The only three cities that had positive scores in every area were Omaha, Des Moines, and Oklahoma City. But since we're obviously a little biased in Nebraska's favor, we'll just go ahead and imagine that he said Omaha is the best of those three.

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flickr/Brian Stalter

Places that people might place higher than Omaha - such as Portland, Oregon, Seattle, or San Diego - scored high on Quality of Life and Economic Strength, but they lacked something that Omaha has dominated for quite a while: affordability. Omaha received high marks in all three categories, designating it as a livable, economically stable, affordable city. Those who complain about the cost of living should know that Sperling's Best Places placed Omaha at an 88 for cost of living (100 is average for the U.S.).

While this data only looked at Omaha, Nebraska as a whole has a cost of living below the national average. Add to that our diverse landscapes, an abundance of recreational opportunities, and a love of history that permeates pretty much every corner of the state, and you’ve got what we like to think of as the best state in the country.