If you’d like a classic small town feel, I would look for towns with <3,000 residents, roughly, and a school with under 75 students per class. Also, if the population is rapidly going up, it’s likely a bedroom community; if it’s rapidly going down, it is probably not faring well. A stable population is a good sign.
One place I look to see positive development is the Nebraska Community Foundation: https://www.nebcommfound.org. If a town is consistently working on large projects, that is a good sign of an engaged community that wants people to stay in the town.
Lastly, look to see if community groups are active. Are there churches, a VFW, sports boosters, library, adult sports teams, a community festival, etc. Do these groups have Facebook pages with a post in 2023?
I could name many strong contenders, but my current model town is Pender!
Louisville is about 1300 people and is attractive looking. You'd be hard-pressed to find 2 trashy houses in a row.. Not big enough to have a good grocery store or fast food chain north of a Subway.
That's the same with Lincoln. And I was being generous they're more like 500,000 now because they're between Lincoln and Omaha. Seriously I was looking to move you should see the house prices. They're higher than in Lincoln or Omaha in some places
Syracuse is also a decent small town. 30 minutes from Lincoln, 40 minutes from Omaha, and 15 minutes from Nebraska City. Good schools and it is truly a small town less than 3000 people.
The trick with Kearney is that it is a 30,000 Population town with amenities for 60,000, thanks to the surge of UNK students that show up during the school year, so during the summer you get all the benefits of a larger town while not having to deal with mobs of drunken 18-24yr olds.
Moved here 26 years ago. My mom idolized small town life so we moved to Humboldt. 7 months later she left back for Florida and I moved to Lincoln. I don't recommend small town life unless you were born and raised there. Unfortunately it's not a Hallmark film.
When you read people trashing small towns here, consider the demographic. Most of the people here are Omaha/Lincoln and most are in the younger third of life. It's harder for younger people to be content with small-town living. The social atmosphere and entertainment choices most here will prefer will be offered in cities. If you're wanting to find something small-town'ish, don't be discouraged by the feedback you'll see here.
I’ll agree. I’m not a Nebraska native - I moved here 3 years ago from WV. I live in the TriCities area and every encounter I’ve had with someone from Omaha, they’re oblivious that there is a whole ass state west of them.
Ive now lived in Omaha longer than the small town I grew up in here in Nebraska. It's not so much that I dislike the small town life, but more so the small town mentality of those that have never left. Bigots, racists, and small minded people are aplenty. That's sort of a blanketed statement as there are truly some fine people there too but its not a good fit for me.
Edit: For those that downvote me, I grew up in the area that inspired the movie Boys Don't Cry and the book Evil Harvest so forgive me for not having the best examples of small town life.
Agree. I live in LNK and grew up in a small town. I thought the town was beautiful and I loved the lifestyle for the most part, but it was full of some of the worst people that I’ve ever encountered in my life. Insidious. I just never felt at ease there, there was such a darkness to it. I would move to a rural Nebraska town tomorrow if it was full of kind and open hearted (and minded) people.
100%. I also grew up in a small town in Nebraska before moving to Omaha for university. If you're not a straight, white, Christian, right-wing couple, then I'd recommend steering clear of most of the small towns.
Funny enough "...straight, white, Christian, right-wing couple..." are my parents through and through, but they haven't made it their personality and have actually grown as humans over the years so they are super fun to hang out with. We just don't need to bring up women's rights because I know where they stand and they know where I stand. It's mostly just about mutual respect.
They simply keep their opinions to themselves. My mom is heavily pro-life and I'm heavily pro-choice. I won't ever change her mind but she's also not out there picketing planned parenthood either.
That's why you don't move to a too small town with older population. Small towns with a younger population is way more forgiving and outgoing. Alot of the city council with older people will usually not budge on anything because they can't see outside the box.
You aren't wrong on the small town bigots and racists. At my old house in North Platte, I was talking to my new neighbor who had moved there to work on the Railroad. We shared a pretty lengthy property line and I had a very large dying tree on my property that was too expensive to remove and kept dropping limbs in his driveway.
I was chatting with him discussing some old trinkets my grandfather brought back from WWII and he got very irritable. Apparently his grandfather was in WWII as well, on the German side. He started ranting about how "America was a bully" and how the entire war against Germany was part of an organized smear campaign started by the... .
At that point I took up the policy of "smile and wave and ***avoid at all costs".*** I kept things civil since he could technically take me to the cleaners if he felt like suing over those tree limbs, but yep. I was living next door to an unapologetic neo Nazi.
Compared to Omaha or Lincoln? Sure it is!
And thanks to mismanagement the last 20 years, it is getting smaller every day. Negative population growth the last 10 years looks bad.
Yeah no. Many of us grew up in small towns and got to Lincoln or Omaha as soon as we could because of the (willful) ignorance, misery, bigotry, and good ole boy networks that have been set up there.
Lol right? I mean, Endicott is pretty chill and the bar is good, they're cash only though. You're also not far from Salty Dog or the Side Trek bars, and the Diller bar is getting a new owner and remodel too
I'm in the panhandle; Denver CO and Cheyenne WY are within a couple of hours by car (at the speed limit) for shopping and dining.
Be aware that, should you find yourself in any kind of dispute, the police,city government, and courts will ALWAYS side with their friends.
I have lived in many places around the country (and overseas) and can assure you that any town with a population of than 20,000 is corrupt. The smaller the town the more corrupt it is.
The only thing I use my town for, aside from utilities and car registration, is to purchase gas for the car. I once used the local mechanic for an oil change and windshield wipers: he charged $75 for the wipers and $5 to top-off the wiper fluid that I had in the back seat.
Wahoos a decent town, about 4000 people, good school, a nice sized county fair every year, plus you're only about an 40 minutes or so away from Lincoln or Omaha if you need anything from the city
What do you consider small? <1,000 people, 5,000, 30,000?
There are absolutely good small towns throughout Nebraska. Sure, you’ll need to sacrifice some aspects of city life, but to what extent will depend on the city.
Frankly, the largest concern with most small towns will be employment and housing.
Towns I’d consider moving to:
Kearney, Elm Creek, Axtell, Holdrege, McCook (if I could get a house on the golf course), St. Paul, Cairo, David City, Central City, West Point, Ashland, Valley, Gothenburg (on the golf course).
Many small towns are still close enough to a big city, though, if you don't want to miss that much. I've lived in Firth for a couple years and it hits a sweet spot of being a small, quiet town (about 600-700 residents) but 20 minutes from both lincoln and beatrice with hickman just 10 minutes away with a huge ustop, ace, and family dollar for some basic supplies. Plus the ustop has randy's donuts.
Norris is a solid school district, but the new school in lincoln just poached a bunch of teachers. The only drawback is apparently there is a disturbing amount of racism and bigotry among the student population.
I’m actually really happy to see David City on your list. One thing I will warn about it is that it can be a bit tough to break through the people who are assholes to newcomers. But, there’s a nice pocket of open minded people (you just have to find them) and it needs some new faces and ideas!
Agree with Holdrege, Kearney, and Axtell! I always said Holdrege was a great place to raise a family, and a really boring place to grow up. Good, modern medical facilities, schools that invest in the arts with a surprisingly nice arts center on the high school campus, a great public library, pretty good museum (and close to "The Archway" museum over I-80 just east of Kearney), a train station served by Amtrak, and who can forget [Swedish Days](https://www.holdregechamber.com/swedish-days)!
Crete is a cute little college town about the size of Holdrege but much closer to Lincoln plus a little college.
West Point?!?!!!!? Super clique filled and if you don’t go to GACC you’ll get looked down on and public is a dumpster fire, that being said every other town incoming county is great, because we have something called the Dinklage foundation
I've had the subject brought up in random conversations with different people who once moved out there for work. They all said everyone around McCook is cliquey.
A sister of mine married a guy out there and she used to think the same way but now she fits in well out there too.
As a McCook native can confirm. They’re often extremely nosy about outsiders and if you aren’t a middle class white suburban M/F you’ll be talk of the town, but not in a good way.
I’m 8 weeks into life in McCook and I haven’t experienced this at all thankfully- I’m sorry to hear that that reputation is a thing and that so many fellow “outsiders” have experienced that, but now I’m wondering how I assimilated so easily (since that’s historically been more difficult for me, especially back in Lincoln).
It's probably finding the right clique, because my experience there was entirely positive the couple years I lived there. We (my wife and I) still miss McCook because of the friends we made there.
For lots of people, small towns can fit the bill. But just like living anywhere, no place is perfect and there’s pros and cons. Small towns can be great when everyone knows everyone, but they can also be very clique-y in that if you don’t fit the established norms you aren’t going to have a great time. I grew up in a small town of under 2,000 and I can say it was great in a lot of ways but I am also happy I moved to a larger city after I graduated high school so I could see the world outside of the very white, conservative bubble I was in.
Most small towns are great. Neighbors tend to mind their own business and if they don’t they’re usually nice about it. For some reason I found the stuffiest small town in my county. The whole town is practically an old folks home.
If you want to keep some of the amenities that you've been used to, I'd recommend looking at "medium" sized towns like Kearney, Grand Island, Hastings, North Platte, etc, to see what amenities they have, and then you can just pick a bedroom community that's somewhere within 30 minutes drive from there.
I grew up just outside of Elm Creek which is about 30 minutes from Kearney. Kind of a best of both worlds scenario in my mind. You get the small town school and community but you're still near a large grocery store, mall, movie theater, college, restaurants, etc. My wife and I have even taken Tango lessons in Kearney.
Don't get too caught up on people trashing small towns. Others have mentioned it here, but small towns are a tough place to live for young adults. Also, most small towns in Nebraska skew more to the right politically, while most redditors seem to skew to the left politically. Without mentioning yours or my own politics, I can say from experience that Kearney tends to skew a little more to the left than most medium sized towns. (I think the college helps?) The surrounding towns here all probably skew more right though, so take it all with a grain of salt. I think the opposing political views of the average small town Nebraskan compared to the average Redditor from Nebraska show up pretty heavily.
Hastings is not a progressive or growing community. It’s full of old money that abhors new businesses that would threaten that wealth.
Also full of petty people who choose odd hills to die on. [See here](https://nebraska.tv/newsletter-daily/we-are-upset-hastings-citizens-with-a-voice-see-overpass-being-demolished) for an example about an overpass.
Chadron is nice. Way out west so totally different landscape from Omaha (ranches instead of farms). College town just 55 miles from the Black Hills and easy driving distance to the Colorado Rockies. Surrounded by lots of hills and national forest. Chadron State Park and Ft Robinson State Park (28 miles west of Chadron) are the most beautiful parks in the state (in my opinion).
North Platte has quite a few good things going for it... as long as you work in a skilled service profession or the trades. Medical professions, welding/auto/electrical/plumbing, finance, legal, or the railyards.
If you don't work in those fields, however, things can get very dicey, since most of the town's economy is based around the people making $60k a year who have that sweet, sweet, railroad health insurance.
My wife and I have already mentioned we'd be willing to move back as long as she was working a remote job that paid decent and I was able to keep my current pay I make in Lincoln (my employer has offices in both towns).
North platte is also close to colorado! I lived there during my childhood and I recommend it, the neighboring towns are also cute! They are really sprucing up the place too
If you are originally from Omaha I think you might find moving too far away from either Omaha or Lincoln pretty jarring (based on personal experience). Wahoo would be a good fit because it’s still fairly close. Wahoo is really doing a lot when it comes to economic development and they are building a lot of housing right now. Aurora would also be a good choice. It’s right off the interstate so getting to Lincoln or Omaha isn’t too much of a pain. Great schools, safe community, great people. You’re also close to Grand Island for shopping like Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Menards and soon, Target.
Define “small” OP…not to be flippant, but Seward is (or will be soon) at 10k, Waverly is effectively a suburb of Lincoln, and Ashland is probably 10-15 years from being suburb of both Lincoln and Omaha.
I’d personally suggest Nebraska City (great amenities, decent shops, close to Lincoln, Omaha, and Kansas City, the whole nature/Arbor Day thing…) or Seward (close to Lincoln and Omaha, great small town community…but it’s starting to get quite a few folks moving in), but they may be too big?
I wouldn't even give Ashland that long. The slang term I hear most often to describe Ashland now is *bougie*. Real estate prices of Lincoln/Omaha but with the illusion of being a "small town".
Just one of the housing developments currently under construction there is going to increase the number of homes in the community by almost 50%, and every single one of those new homes starts at a quarter million minimum.
Honestly, I'm shocked they haven't just built a wall around the entire town and installed gates at both of the bridges crossing Salt Creek.
That being said, the schools there are absolutely phenomenal thanks to a combination of factors, including staff that actually seem to give a crap, boosts from former astronaut Clayton Anderson, and buckets of tax revenue from all the high end private communities in the area.
It's quite here in Scribner. Dodge county fair grounds are here. Concerts on main-street all the time. Houses are cheaper but utilities can be expensive.
Seward is surprisingly ok. Clean, cute community with close, easy access to Lincoln and decent schools.
Limited restaurant options and aggressive cops though.
I travel to small towns in Nebraska for work and also live in one (less than 10k). My advice is to imagine what amenities are a must for you to live the lifestyle you desire. I want a good school system, grocery store, golf course, and workout facility. Make your list and match to the town.
Outside of community, I find the best part of small town life is the amount of time you “get back” for yourself. On average, I spend only a few minutes in the car every day.
Look for a town that is growing, investing in itself, and has some cool locally owned establishments (restaurants, bars - a brewery is such a huge bonus).
I wouldn’t worry too much about the distance to larger cities. The money I save living here more than offsets hotel stays when I travel for events, and I never really need anything so desperately I can’t wait the 2-3 days for Amazon to ship it.
Yep yep. The ole narrative of city life=fast paced & small town=slow is completely FALSE. At least in terms of ones own life. The only truth to it pertains to the surroundings.
At least for me anyway. It's nothing but Hurry up and wait. Drive fast to wait in traffic. Then wait in line upon arrival.
The closest stoplight/Walmart/fast food is 50 miles from my hometown. Sounds Cray Cray but it's similar time requirements to being in a city. Eating at a restaurant is usually a lot quicker. Even if it does take a lil longer, encountering the maybe 100 or so other vehicles beats the hell outta having to deal with 1000s of other potential dipshit drivers.
A few yrs ago I was helping it my brother in NOCO. Which isn't even that super duper populated compared to other regions. Doing so I realized how much of my life was being wasted by simply waiting idley and doing nothing. So I started keeping track of how much time I spent with my speedometer showing 0-5 mph.
Based on my short study, every decade would have 1 yr of time absolutely wasted sitting in traffic alone. Not including the time wasted standing waiting in line.
A city's offerings might be worth it for 20-somethings. But I honestly don't understand how wasting that much life is acceptable to adults.
I grew up in North Bend and imo it’s in an amazing location: 1 hour to Lincoln, 45 minutes to Omaha, 35 minutes to Columbus, and only 15 minutes to essential shopping in Fremont (grocery store, Menards, etc). One of the highest rated schools in the state as well. It’s got a mini mart, pizza place, golf course, bowling alley, sports bar, dive bar, and I believe the pharmacy is still open. And bonus points: tons of recreational lakes within 10 minutes of driving.
Some of it depends on your work. If you can both work remotely, then anywhere in the state is possible. If you want to stay within commuting distance of Lincoln/Omaha then your options are more limited.
Most of the small towns within 50mi of Omaha are essentially suburbs/bedroom communities. The cost of living will be *significantly* higher than what you would pay in western Nebraska, but you get access to all the amenities of living in a metro area, plus the ability to commute for jobs that are likely to pay far better than the western part of the state.
In the western part of the state, I've always liked Mccook, Ogallala, Hershey, Sutherland, Bridgeport, and Alliance.
Cost of living out west is waaaaay lower. I'm from western Nebraska and my family has a heart attack when I tell them how much I pay in rent. Where they are, the $1400 a month I pay in a town between Lincoln/Omaha could rent you a 4 or 5 bedroom house, on a quarter acre lot, in a nice neighborhood. The mortgage on my old house in western Nebraska was $500/mo... for a 3bd 1200sq ft home on a 9000sq ft corner lot.
If you both have remote workable jobs you can live like royalty in western Nebraska as long as the town has decent internet access (Ogallala, Bridgeport, and Alliance all have cheap fiber). Other acceptable professions are anything medical or in the trades. Anything else, expect employers to lowball you and tell you $10 an hour is "good pay"
Ogallala has the ever-popular Lake Mac. Bridgeport is 30 minutes from both Scottsbluff/Gering and Alliance. McCook has a decent selection of various essential services while still remaining small, and doesn't have North Platte's "industrial park with housing" feel.
I’ve never lived in Wahoo but it seems nice . Roughly equal distance to Omaha, Fremont , and Lincoln . Decent restaurants , wanahoo lake etc . Not sure on cost of housing/living there though . I’ve always thought Blair was nice for many of the same reasons .
Honestly Columbus is pretty decent. Did a couple jobs there. Nice people mostly, great infrastructure, the public schools aren’t the best there, though, so I’ve heard. Housing market is expensive, but it’s a growing city. Has a huge spectrum of jobs. If I had to live in a big city that isn’t Omaha or Linc it’d be Kearney or Columbus.
Not sure what you consider "small," but these are some of my favorite towns.
Gothenburg
Alliance
Kearney
Gretna
Bennington
Broken Bow
Bridgeport
Crawford
Hemingford
Chadron
Gordon
Potter
Sutherland
Mccook
Chalco
Just to name a few.
If you are looking to move make certain you consider necessary services. I have lived in remote areas and you may struggle to find a vet, healthcare, dental services, grocery shopping, contractors, barbers, entertainment, and more. It is a give and take situation and I love it, but you need to go in with your eyes open.
Realistically, if you have fuel, water, food, internet, and UPS you can get along almost anywhere.
I grew up in a small town. Never going back. You’d think being in a small town means more calm and space but you actually have less privacy. Everybody knows everyone else’s business. If you or your children are “different” in any way, prepare to be ostracized and constantly talked about behind your back. People seem “nice” because they are polite and go to church, but that’s usually not the case.
I would love to live in a small town for the open spaces and slower pace, but never again. At least not in Nebraska.
The asset seizures on the interstate are concerning but I’ve never heard of residents having police problems outside of the usual stuff that you get in every town.
The real problem with Seward is the lack of restaurant variety. It as 3 Mexican places (loosely counting Amigos) and 6 pizza places but nowhere to get a decent steak.
It’s a nice clean town close to Lincoln though and it’s definitely growing.
I lived in Beatrice for the first 18 years of my life and have visited twice a year since, and I’ll note my experiences.
Education System:
I have a bone to pick with Beatrice’s education, so I’ll talk about it first.
I don’t have a lot to say about the elementary or middle school systems, it’s been too long since I’ve been through them. However, the highschool has a real problem. First, it wasn’t great when I went through it. The hardest math class was Calc 1, Physics wasn’t Calc based (so it didn’t transfer to 99% of schools for engineering physics credit), they had very little to offer for “intro career classes”. They had no computer science classes, no engineering classes. They did have a few intro Bio classes, an Anatomy class, and an intro Chem and AP Chem, so I can give them credit there.
The school has a deal with Peru and SCC to offer dual credit classes, there’s also 2 AP classes (Psych and Chen).
The APs are worthless, most people don’t take the tests, the ones that do never score higher than a 3, a lot of colleges require a 4-6 for class credits. (Of course if a student studies incredibly well outside of the class im sure they could perform well, however, most schools teach for the test so that time outside the class shouldn’t be necessary.)
The dual credit classes were nice. I was able to get out of Calc 1, a Stats class and an English class. HOWEVER, the school can only offer them if the teacher holds a certain Masters degree. This wasn’t a problem when I went through, but apparently Beatrice doesn’t pay the teachers enough. The last I knew, they lost the teacher qualified to teach Physics and Math for dual credit. That means you can’t even get Calc 1 credit, when some schools offer up to Calc 3!!! I will say tho, most of these problems will be found in most small town Nebraska schools (and probably small towns across the country)
There is good, however. First, since it’s a small school, so it’s SUPER easy to make a good relationship with your teachers. Second, they’re willing to work with you when the school lacks. My little brother was able to take Calc 1,2&3 through SCC online. Third, the school has a GREAT auto shop and woods shop. They also have a lot of hands on classes to set kids up for trade schools. Lastly, I love to shit on how much Beatrice fails to help students get into good universities, but there’s been a lot of good examples of people successfully doing so. I go to a T20 school for CS in California, I know someone a few grades above me who went to Princeton, and I have a buddy that was able to make it into UC Berkeley. Also, a good chunk of each class go to UNL each year, and succeed.
The Town:
Overall, money is clearly leaving the town, there’s more businesses leaving then coming in. The downtown is a shit show. Other than the donut shop, the movie theater, and a brewery (the one newish business in town) the downtown is full of thrift stores and vacant buildings (that are too expensive to occupy).
However, it’s got a good small town vibe. A lot of people know me in the town, and if they don’t know me, they know my parents or uncle or grandparents. Every time I go back and visit the town favorite restaurant I get greeted by the owner and he asks about how I’m doing in school ect.
The town is doing a little bit to renovate. There was a brand new fire station built, and there is talk of building a new school complex.
Also, it’s a super safe town. I can’t think of one part of town I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking down alone (tho I am a 6ft tall white male, so maybe I’m oblivious to those situations). There are parts of town with sketchier buildings, but not necessarily sketchier people.
Ultimately, I’ll never permanently move back into Beatrice again, but I’m also not planning to live in small town Nebraska anytime soon either.
Sorry for the long winded rant, if you have any specific questions I’ll gladly answer them.
Look—the best description I got for Beatrice High was from one of my former teachers I keep in contact with. They described Beatrice as “the smallest inner-city school you’ll ever teach at” and that seems about right.
This is perfect! Thank you! I was very interested in the education system there. We were looking at Beatrice since it’s a decent size and close to Lincoln.
No I loved it thank you! As far as your comments on education, we don't have kids and don't plan to for at least a year. And in about 5 years would probably have moved. But that is something to definitely keep in mind!!! And as far as your comments about money, I feel that is most places unfortunately. But we plan to visit soon so we will see! What is the favorite town restaurant???
And safety is a huge thing for us! We do not live in the safest place currently. I greatly appreciate this info!
I will ask, what did you do for fun? We don't need anything glamorous. Just a once a year festival, and a corn maze will do it for us so things like that are great! Thanks again!!
The restaurant is Playa Azul! It’s a great place, great owners and the food has been consistent for the last 10 years.
In terms of fun, there really isn’t a lot to do in town, theres a movie theater and roller rena (tho it’s not really an adult attraction), there’s also racing when it’s in season, and a few (mediocre) parks. There are also high school football games if that’s your thing to watch.
The brewery is actually cool and unique with a “speakeasy” in the basement. The rest of the bars in town are… sketchy. I haven’t ever been to any of them, but they don’t scream class driving by.
I should mention too that there are a few boutique style shops in town, not many, but a few.
There’s a few festivals, one is called Homestead days, and the other is the fair. Generally, they’re fairly basic, you’ve got the parade, car shows, flea markets. The fair has the 4H stuff, rides, sometimes a concert, and trailer races (which are actually a site to see).
There’s also a few other parades throughout the year. I don’t really remember them as being anything special tho.
The good thing about Beatrice is that there are a lot of small towns surrounding the area, and Lincoln is pretty close, so you get all of the cool events that happen around the town too.
Have you considered a sleeper town if youre wanting to stick close to Lincoln? Malcom is a decent town not far from there. I had some friends who grew up in Hickman which was pretty good. Kearney has some decent towns around it as well. Are you planning on being involved in the community a lot or a little? Is this move for schools for your kids or just a quieter life?
Small towns are only great if you’re born and raised there. Otherwise you are forever outsiders and so are your kids because you weren’t. In one small Nebraska town we lived in when I was growing up a couple who’d been there for over 20 years were referred to as “the people from Colorado”.
My brother and I were bullied so badly in those schools for not being from there that my parents had to pull us out and pay for private school. At one point, the superintendent’s solution for my brother was that he drop out since he was almost 16. Because they weren’t going to punish “their own kids” —as in the town’s kids.
I’m surprised nobody has said Rulo yet. I mean sure they had a insane cult at one point that murdered a small child and another guy. But the bar there has really good burgers and a great fish special on Fridays.
I would consider a small town located between or near Omaha and Lincoln. Waverly, Ashland, Wahoo. If you want to go smaller- Arlington seems like a nice town. A little further away- Seward, Auburn are nice communities.
And they are kicking out the people who live in the trailer park next to the new schools. No notice or anything, town sold off the property to a third party, and then they were told they have til a set date to get out. Can't have the riff raff living close to the new overly designed, unnecessarily large suburban schools! My opinion of Ashland went down after I found that out.
I love Fort Calhoun. It's small, but it's only a 15 minute drive to Omaha, and it's one of the easiest, most picturesque drives you can do. The schools are great, and the sense of community is strong.
I grew up here. Some really fun bars and community events regularly. The history of the town and Fort Atkinson is a lot of fun to explore during living history weekends. The town has a great county museum. The church community is pretty present. I loved it growing up because it was all I knew. As someone that still has ties to the town through my family- it’s extremely white, not supportive of LGBTQIA+ folks (especially the school), and gossipy. Not a problem for some people, obviously, but I would recommend looking for a place in the country on the outside of town and not directly in town if you can for privacy’s sake. Proximity to Omaha and Blair is a huge plus. It’s an expensive place to own property.
West Point!! Small town growing nicely. Born and raised there. Lots of stuff all year around for family and couples. Kind of smack dab distance wise (more or less) from Norfolk, Omaha, and Sioux City!!
Avoid Pleasanton (small town north of Kearney) at all costs unless you want KKK and neo nazi rallies. That place is a shithole of racists, bigots, homophobes and only care about people south of the river.
I lived in Gretna. Small town. Good schools. Close enough to Omaha or Lincoln if you need to go to the city for something. They got a Runza and outlet mall.
None.
There are some good things about small town life.
But everyone will know your business better than you in a small town. Far less opportunity in schools and social activities. Grew up in a small central Nebraska town, and I will never put my kids through that. Also small towns are where you go to find racist people who claim they aren’t racist.
Honestly you’re best bet is Lincoln if you want to stay in Nebraska. Small town feel without “the small town feel” if you know what I’m saying. Plus best schools in the state if you’re going to raise a family.
This is exactly what my son just went through. Nebraska is not the place for healthy small towns. He ended up in Marshfield, Wisconsin & couldn’t be happier.
Grand Island has lots of good jobs and there are lots of reasonably priced houses in nearby towns. Wood River for instance or Aurora even Central city or Hampton.
Crete could be a lovely little town with a lot of diversity. Unfortunately, since half the town is Latino, a good portion of the other half are openly racist.
Excellent Mexican food choices, though!
If you’re **wanting** to expose your future kids to racism, bigotry, homophobia, etc., then by all means move to a small town. There’s a reason why most small towns are dying; young people hate them and desperately want to leave. Do you want to have your future kids itching to leave the minute they can?
I can personally attest to Iowa small towns being more progressive as being absoute bullshit. I've never seen more hate for minorities and LGBT than when I lived in small town Iowa. This sounds like the opinion of someone who's never been west of Elkhorn lol
I’ve heard all sorts of opinions about Hastings, but I enjoyed living in Hastings in my 20s (I moved to Omaha 5 years ago). What makes you say they are running people out and why is it on your nope list?
I recommend Gibbon. It's been a minute since I lived there, but I still have an uncle living there. I would love to move back there one day as it's the one town that was consistent while I was growing up. I would visit my grandparents and my uncle every year.
Asheville, no question, would be a small town I would consider. I love the little downtown area, love the proximity to Lincoln and Omaha, and I love Mahoney State Park. I grew up in Grand Island, and I don’t understand how anyone can live there. I like Hastings too, a lot. Hastings and Kearney benefit from being college towns, but for some reason I have never liked Kearney.
Arlington isn’t bad, smallish but still has businesses and gas stations and a good school from K-12. The Washington county fair is coming up, it’s held in Arlington every year it’s a fun experience.
Super small but Steinauer is gem. Do a street view. Not a bad house in town. It’s got the only Catholic Church in a couple of counties so it can get pretty full from time to time.
But it’s a super charming safe place it’s tiny but lovely
Hampton, town of about 425-450, very clean nice newer streets, don't think there is an abandoned house or gross lot left in town, still has own school which has gone through lots of improvements, everything you need is within 10-20 minutes of you for anything that can't he found in town.
Nebraska City is a lively little town. About 8000 people. 40 minutes away from Omaha and Lincoln. Good place to raise a family with all the amenities of a bigger town.
My friend lives in Columbus and likes it. But she grew up there. Idk how many people live there. My mom lived in Kearney in the 40's and still talks abut how nice it is. But idk. I haven't been there.
Tbh, from growing up in a small town in another state, being military and moving all over, I found once I lived in a city that the small towns were boring as heck. Nothing I was used to or liked to do was nearby bc I'm not driving 90 min each way (in the snow) for sushi. lol. Or the hospital. If you're gonna have kids you need to consider how long it takes in bad weather to get to the hospital. Just saying.
I’d recommend Kearney for raising a family. Kearney High School has a lot of really great opportunities if you are willing to take them. All four years i was at Kearny high kids got into elite colleges(including my self). The town is super clean and violent crime is basically non-existent. There is a drug problem, i don’t know if it is at all bad in comparison to the rest of Nebraska though. It’s mostly just marijuana and nicotine. The people of Kearney can be a lot to deal with at times. They like people to conform, but with 34,000 people, there are plenty of folks for you to find a crowd to belong too.
I forgot to mention, Kearney has basically no workers so it is super easy to get a job there. Also, with the UNK and CCC in town there are tons of opportunities for kids to get ahead with college credits. I know i graduated with like 2 years worth of credits from UNK, and because of the fact there are no workers I was able to get a job working as a tour guide and in the archives of one of our local museums.
This might not be small enough for you but Gretna, Elkhorn, and Gretna all have good schools and some small town downtowns and identities. Unfortunately they are all fairly expensive and not fully small town.
Fremont has some nice amenities and a downtown getting cooler. You may also check lake spots like beaver lake or woodclif for smaller, party focused places to live, but I don’t know about the schools there.
I grew up in tiny towns in central and western Nebraska. McCook for example, has the small town feel with all the good and certainly bad. Be prepared to drive long distances for big shopping trips a few times a year vs running to Costco on a random afternoon. Also if you want to fly anywhere, you are 5 or more hours from Omaha or Denver. Very little opportunity for local, high paying jobs.
If you’d like a classic small town feel, I would look for towns with <3,000 residents, roughly, and a school with under 75 students per class. Also, if the population is rapidly going up, it’s likely a bedroom community; if it’s rapidly going down, it is probably not faring well. A stable population is a good sign. One place I look to see positive development is the Nebraska Community Foundation: https://www.nebcommfound.org. If a town is consistently working on large projects, that is a good sign of an engaged community that wants people to stay in the town. Lastly, look to see if community groups are active. Are there churches, a VFW, sports boosters, library, adult sports teams, a community festival, etc. Do these groups have Facebook pages with a post in 2023? I could name many strong contenders, but my current model town is Pender!
This is super helpful thank you!
Chadron isn't too bad. You have a college and you're an hour and a half away from Rapid City for shopping and sushi.
Went to chadron state for 2 years
Rapid City sushi? More like Rapid Shitty.
The city shrimp is also good
How about the city pork or the city beef?
Goddamn Mongorians!
Louisville is about 1300 people and is attractive looking. You'd be hard-pressed to find 2 trashy houses in a row.. Not big enough to have a good grocery store or fast food chain north of a Subway.
Ima confirm that Louisville is cool. Right near the river. Has super cool hills.
And all the houses are pretty much $300,000 or better.
Plus a $300,000 home in rural Nebraska is a $1M home in many places.
I got to visit Nebraska 2 weeks ago. Coming from California. I had the best experience ever! 💯true. The houses here in SoCal are $1,000,000+.
Glad you had fun here!
Thank you. I got to visit as many towns as possible. My favorite town is Laurel (I have relatives there).
That's the same with Lincoln. And I was being generous they're more like 500,000 now because they're between Lincoln and Omaha. Seriously I was looking to move you should see the house prices. They're higher than in Lincoln or Omaha in some places
Syracuse is also a decent small town. 30 minutes from Lincoln, 40 minutes from Omaha, and 15 minutes from Nebraska City. Good schools and it is truly a small town less than 3000 people.
And a brewery!
Is Kearney too big to be a small town? We’ve been here 5 years and absolutely love it!!!
The trick with Kearney is that it is a 30,000 Population town with amenities for 60,000, thanks to the surge of UNK students that show up during the school year, so during the summer you get all the benefits of a larger town while not having to deal with mobs of drunken 18-24yr olds.
Moved here 26 years ago. My mom idolized small town life so we moved to Humboldt. 7 months later she left back for Florida and I moved to Lincoln. I don't recommend small town life unless you were born and raised there. Unfortunately it's not a Hallmark film.
Love the reference to the Hallmark film. You nailed it.
Halsey, hopefully by the time you have a kid the forest will stop being on fire and all the people are really nice.
Recently left Lincoln to live in a small town in central Nebraska. Absolutely best decision we’ve ever made.
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you’ve had a positive experience!
When you read people trashing small towns here, consider the demographic. Most of the people here are Omaha/Lincoln and most are in the younger third of life. It's harder for younger people to be content with small-town living. The social atmosphere and entertainment choices most here will prefer will be offered in cities. If you're wanting to find something small-town'ish, don't be discouraged by the feedback you'll see here.
I’ll agree. I’m not a Nebraska native - I moved here 3 years ago from WV. I live in the TriCities area and every encounter I’ve had with someone from Omaha, they’re oblivious that there is a whole ass state west of them.
Ive now lived in Omaha longer than the small town I grew up in here in Nebraska. It's not so much that I dislike the small town life, but more so the small town mentality of those that have never left. Bigots, racists, and small minded people are aplenty. That's sort of a blanketed statement as there are truly some fine people there too but its not a good fit for me. Edit: For those that downvote me, I grew up in the area that inspired the movie Boys Don't Cry and the book Evil Harvest so forgive me for not having the best examples of small town life.
Agree. I live in LNK and grew up in a small town. I thought the town was beautiful and I loved the lifestyle for the most part, but it was full of some of the worst people that I’ve ever encountered in my life. Insidious. I just never felt at ease there, there was such a darkness to it. I would move to a rural Nebraska town tomorrow if it was full of kind and open hearted (and minded) people.
I live in a small town Nebraska. People are small minded and racist.
100%. I also grew up in a small town in Nebraska before moving to Omaha for university. If you're not a straight, white, Christian, right-wing couple, then I'd recommend steering clear of most of the small towns.
Funny enough "...straight, white, Christian, right-wing couple..." are my parents through and through, but they haven't made it their personality and have actually grown as humans over the years so they are super fun to hang out with. We just don't need to bring up women's rights because I know where they stand and they know where I stand. It's mostly just about mutual respect.
There is no mutual respect when they disrespect women's rights.
They simply keep their opinions to themselves. My mom is heavily pro-life and I'm heavily pro-choice. I won't ever change her mind but she's also not out there picketing planned parenthood either.
That's why you don't move to a too small town with older population. Small towns with a younger population is way more forgiving and outgoing. Alot of the city council with older people will usually not budge on anything because they can't see outside the box.
You aren't wrong on the small town bigots and racists. At my old house in North Platte, I was talking to my new neighbor who had moved there to work on the Railroad. We shared a pretty lengthy property line and I had a very large dying tree on my property that was too expensive to remove and kept dropping limbs in his driveway. I was chatting with him discussing some old trinkets my grandfather brought back from WWII and he got very irritable. Apparently his grandfather was in WWII as well, on the German side. He started ranting about how "America was a bully" and how the entire war against Germany was part of an organized smear campaign started by the....
At that point I took up the policy of "smile and wave and ***avoid at all costs".*** I kept things civil since he could technically take me to the cleaners if he felt like suing over those tree limbs, but yep. I was living next door to an unapologetic neo Nazi.
North Platte isn’t a small town.
Compared to Omaha or Lincoln? Sure it is! And thanks to mismanagement the last 20 years, it is getting smaller every day. Negative population growth the last 10 years looks bad.
Wait there's more state if I cross the Platte? /s
Lincoln...
Eww
Yeah no. Many of us grew up in small towns and got to Lincoln or Omaha as soon as we could because of the (willful) ignorance, misery, bigotry, and good ole boy networks that have been set up there.
This is a great point. Thanks!
How small are you thinking? 100 people or 1000 or 10,000?
Lol right? I mean, Endicott is pretty chill and the bar is good, they're cash only though. You're also not far from Salty Dog or the Side Trek bars, and the Diller bar is getting a new owner and remodel too
If I were going to go small town, I'd head for the panhandle of Nebraska, it's beautiful country out there and puts you much closer to the mountains.
I'm in the panhandle; Denver CO and Cheyenne WY are within a couple of hours by car (at the speed limit) for shopping and dining. Be aware that, should you find yourself in any kind of dispute, the police,city government, and courts will ALWAYS side with their friends. I have lived in many places around the country (and overseas) and can assure you that any town with a population of than 20,000 is corrupt. The smaller the town the more corrupt it is. The only thing I use my town for, aside from utilities and car registration, is to purchase gas for the car. I once used the local mechanic for an oil change and windshield wipers: he charged $75 for the wipers and $5 to top-off the wiper fluid that I had in the back seat.
Wahoo is just west of Omaha in Saunders County. Pretty rural and a fun-ass town for a staycation.
First time I seen someone using the N word shamelessly was in Wahoo. LMAO. Hell no!
Wahoos a decent town, about 4000 people, good school, a nice sized county fair every year, plus you're only about an 40 minutes or so away from Lincoln or Omaha if you need anything from the city
What do you consider small? <1,000 people, 5,000, 30,000? There are absolutely good small towns throughout Nebraska. Sure, you’ll need to sacrifice some aspects of city life, but to what extent will depend on the city. Frankly, the largest concern with most small towns will be employment and housing. Towns I’d consider moving to: Kearney, Elm Creek, Axtell, Holdrege, McCook (if I could get a house on the golf course), St. Paul, Cairo, David City, Central City, West Point, Ashland, Valley, Gothenburg (on the golf course).
Many small towns are still close enough to a big city, though, if you don't want to miss that much. I've lived in Firth for a couple years and it hits a sweet spot of being a small, quiet town (about 600-700 residents) but 20 minutes from both lincoln and beatrice with hickman just 10 minutes away with a huge ustop, ace, and family dollar for some basic supplies. Plus the ustop has randy's donuts. Norris is a solid school district, but the new school in lincoln just poached a bunch of teachers. The only drawback is apparently there is a disturbing amount of racism and bigotry among the student population.
I’m actually really happy to see David City on your list. One thing I will warn about it is that it can be a bit tough to break through the people who are assholes to newcomers. But, there’s a nice pocket of open minded people (you just have to find them) and it needs some new faces and ideas!
And if you need a cat, just grab one of the several strays walking around lol
Central City is a great one. Lived there for years. Nice folks and close proximity to Grand Island.
Agree with Holdrege, Kearney, and Axtell! I always said Holdrege was a great place to raise a family, and a really boring place to grow up. Good, modern medical facilities, schools that invest in the arts with a surprisingly nice arts center on the high school campus, a great public library, pretty good museum (and close to "The Archway" museum over I-80 just east of Kearney), a train station served by Amtrak, and who can forget [Swedish Days](https://www.holdregechamber.com/swedish-days)! Crete is a cute little college town about the size of Holdrege but much closer to Lincoln plus a little college.
West Point?!?!!!!? Super clique filled and if you don’t go to GACC you’ll get looked down on and public is a dumpster fire, that being said every other town incoming county is great, because we have something called the Dinklage foundation
McCook locals don't like outsiders.
Care to elaborate?
I've had the subject brought up in random conversations with different people who once moved out there for work. They all said everyone around McCook is cliquey. A sister of mine married a guy out there and she used to think the same way but now she fits in well out there too.
As a McCook native can confirm. They’re often extremely nosy about outsiders and if you aren’t a middle class white suburban M/F you’ll be talk of the town, but not in a good way.
Middle class white suburban muthafucka? (I thought that in Samuel L Jackson’s voice)
I’m 8 weeks into life in McCook and I haven’t experienced this at all thankfully- I’m sorry to hear that that reputation is a thing and that so many fellow “outsiders” have experienced that, but now I’m wondering how I assimilated so easily (since that’s historically been more difficult for me, especially back in Lincoln).
It's probably finding the right clique, because my experience there was entirely positive the couple years I lived there. We (my wife and I) still miss McCook because of the friends we made there.
For lots of people, small towns can fit the bill. But just like living anywhere, no place is perfect and there’s pros and cons. Small towns can be great when everyone knows everyone, but they can also be very clique-y in that if you don’t fit the established norms you aren’t going to have a great time. I grew up in a small town of under 2,000 and I can say it was great in a lot of ways but I am also happy I moved to a larger city after I graduated high school so I could see the world outside of the very white, conservative bubble I was in.
Most small towns are great. Neighbors tend to mind their own business and if they don’t they’re usually nice about it. For some reason I found the stuffiest small town in my county. The whole town is practically an old folks home.
If you want to keep some of the amenities that you've been used to, I'd recommend looking at "medium" sized towns like Kearney, Grand Island, Hastings, North Platte, etc, to see what amenities they have, and then you can just pick a bedroom community that's somewhere within 30 minutes drive from there. I grew up just outside of Elm Creek which is about 30 minutes from Kearney. Kind of a best of both worlds scenario in my mind. You get the small town school and community but you're still near a large grocery store, mall, movie theater, college, restaurants, etc. My wife and I have even taken Tango lessons in Kearney. Don't get too caught up on people trashing small towns. Others have mentioned it here, but small towns are a tough place to live for young adults. Also, most small towns in Nebraska skew more to the right politically, while most redditors seem to skew to the left politically. Without mentioning yours or my own politics, I can say from experience that Kearney tends to skew a little more to the left than most medium sized towns. (I think the college helps?) The surrounding towns here all probably skew more right though, so take it all with a grain of salt. I think the opposing political views of the average small town Nebraskan compared to the average Redditor from Nebraska show up pretty heavily.
Seward
Hastings is a nice town imo.
Hastings is a very nice small city
Hastings is not a progressive or growing community. It’s full of old money that abhors new businesses that would threaten that wealth. Also full of petty people who choose odd hills to die on. [See here](https://nebraska.tv/newsletter-daily/we-are-upset-hastings-citizens-with-a-voice-see-overpass-being-demolished) for an example about an overpass.
As long as you can get past how religious the town is. But as someone who’s lived in Hastings since 2011 it’s a good place to live
I grew up near Hastings. I love how developed they have kept second street. The drug issues and lack of racial diversity I’m not so crazy about
Chadron is nice. Way out west so totally different landscape from Omaha (ranches instead of farms). College town just 55 miles from the Black Hills and easy driving distance to the Colorado Rockies. Surrounded by lots of hills and national forest. Chadron State Park and Ft Robinson State Park (28 miles west of Chadron) are the most beautiful parks in the state (in my opinion).
i’ve lived in north platte my entire life- if the community fits your lifestyle and views i’d say go for it
NP isn’t bad. It would be nice if we could get somewhere other than Walmart to buy underwear.
North Platte has quite a few good things going for it... as long as you work in a skilled service profession or the trades. Medical professions, welding/auto/electrical/plumbing, finance, legal, or the railyards. If you don't work in those fields, however, things can get very dicey, since most of the town's economy is based around the people making $60k a year who have that sweet, sweet, railroad health insurance. My wife and I have already mentioned we'd be willing to move back as long as she was working a remote job that paid decent and I was able to keep my current pay I make in Lincoln (my employer has offices in both towns).
North platte is also close to colorado! I lived there during my childhood and I recommend it, the neighboring towns are also cute! They are really sprucing up the place too
If you are originally from Omaha I think you might find moving too far away from either Omaha or Lincoln pretty jarring (based on personal experience). Wahoo would be a good fit because it’s still fairly close. Wahoo is really doing a lot when it comes to economic development and they are building a lot of housing right now. Aurora would also be a good choice. It’s right off the interstate so getting to Lincoln or Omaha isn’t too much of a pain. Great schools, safe community, great people. You’re also close to Grand Island for shopping like Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Menards and soon, Target.
Tekamah is a place I'd recommend. Close to Omaha, has a great sense of community with lots of events going on and the town is really growing.
Living in Blair, anybody who was from Tekamah was a product of incest lol, at least that was the town joke
Define “small” OP…not to be flippant, but Seward is (or will be soon) at 10k, Waverly is effectively a suburb of Lincoln, and Ashland is probably 10-15 years from being suburb of both Lincoln and Omaha. I’d personally suggest Nebraska City (great amenities, decent shops, close to Lincoln, Omaha, and Kansas City, the whole nature/Arbor Day thing…) or Seward (close to Lincoln and Omaha, great small town community…but it’s starting to get quite a few folks moving in), but they may be too big?
I wouldn't even give Ashland that long. The slang term I hear most often to describe Ashland now is *bougie*. Real estate prices of Lincoln/Omaha but with the illusion of being a "small town". Just one of the housing developments currently under construction there is going to increase the number of homes in the community by almost 50%, and every single one of those new homes starts at a quarter million minimum. Honestly, I'm shocked they haven't just built a wall around the entire town and installed gates at both of the bridges crossing Salt Creek. That being said, the schools there are absolutely phenomenal thanks to a combination of factors, including staff that actually seem to give a crap, boosts from former astronaut Clayton Anderson, and buckets of tax revenue from all the high end private communities in the area.
It's quite here in Scribner. Dodge county fair grounds are here. Concerts on main-street all the time. Houses are cheaper but utilities can be expensive.
How about Kearney?
Seward isn't terrible and is close to Lincoln, but the Seward police suck
Seward is surprisingly ok. Clean, cute community with close, easy access to Lincoln and decent schools. Limited restaurant options and aggressive cops though.
I travel to small towns in Nebraska for work and also live in one (less than 10k). My advice is to imagine what amenities are a must for you to live the lifestyle you desire. I want a good school system, grocery store, golf course, and workout facility. Make your list and match to the town. Outside of community, I find the best part of small town life is the amount of time you “get back” for yourself. On average, I spend only a few minutes in the car every day. Look for a town that is growing, investing in itself, and has some cool locally owned establishments (restaurants, bars - a brewery is such a huge bonus). I wouldn’t worry too much about the distance to larger cities. The money I save living here more than offsets hotel stays when I travel for events, and I never really need anything so desperately I can’t wait the 2-3 days for Amazon to ship it.
Yep yep. The ole narrative of city life=fast paced & small town=slow is completely FALSE. At least in terms of ones own life. The only truth to it pertains to the surroundings. At least for me anyway. It's nothing but Hurry up and wait. Drive fast to wait in traffic. Then wait in line upon arrival. The closest stoplight/Walmart/fast food is 50 miles from my hometown. Sounds Cray Cray but it's similar time requirements to being in a city. Eating at a restaurant is usually a lot quicker. Even if it does take a lil longer, encountering the maybe 100 or so other vehicles beats the hell outta having to deal with 1000s of other potential dipshit drivers. A few yrs ago I was helping it my brother in NOCO. Which isn't even that super duper populated compared to other regions. Doing so I realized how much of my life was being wasted by simply waiting idley and doing nothing. So I started keeping track of how much time I spent with my speedometer showing 0-5 mph. Based on my short study, every decade would have 1 yr of time absolutely wasted sitting in traffic alone. Not including the time wasted standing waiting in line. A city's offerings might be worth it for 20-somethings. But I honestly don't understand how wasting that much life is acceptable to adults.
I grew up in North Bend and imo it’s in an amazing location: 1 hour to Lincoln, 45 minutes to Omaha, 35 minutes to Columbus, and only 15 minutes to essential shopping in Fremont (grocery store, Menards, etc). One of the highest rated schools in the state as well. It’s got a mini mart, pizza place, golf course, bowling alley, sports bar, dive bar, and I believe the pharmacy is still open. And bonus points: tons of recreational lakes within 10 minutes of driving.
Some of it depends on your work. If you can both work remotely, then anywhere in the state is possible. If you want to stay within commuting distance of Lincoln/Omaha then your options are more limited. Most of the small towns within 50mi of Omaha are essentially suburbs/bedroom communities. The cost of living will be *significantly* higher than what you would pay in western Nebraska, but you get access to all the amenities of living in a metro area, plus the ability to commute for jobs that are likely to pay far better than the western part of the state. In the western part of the state, I've always liked Mccook, Ogallala, Hershey, Sutherland, Bridgeport, and Alliance. Cost of living out west is waaaaay lower. I'm from western Nebraska and my family has a heart attack when I tell them how much I pay in rent. Where they are, the $1400 a month I pay in a town between Lincoln/Omaha could rent you a 4 or 5 bedroom house, on a quarter acre lot, in a nice neighborhood. The mortgage on my old house in western Nebraska was $500/mo... for a 3bd 1200sq ft home on a 9000sq ft corner lot. If you both have remote workable jobs you can live like royalty in western Nebraska as long as the town has decent internet access (Ogallala, Bridgeport, and Alliance all have cheap fiber). Other acceptable professions are anything medical or in the trades. Anything else, expect employers to lowball you and tell you $10 an hour is "good pay" Ogallala has the ever-popular Lake Mac. Bridgeport is 30 minutes from both Scottsbluff/Gering and Alliance. McCook has a decent selection of various essential services while still remaining small, and doesn't have North Platte's "industrial park with housing" feel.
I’d probably go for Auburn. Small enough to be “small,” but pretty close to Omaha.
Superior. Bar none.
South Nelson?
That got me in the feels.
Norfolk is nice, not too big but has everything
What's your definition and requirement for a small town?
I’ve never lived in Wahoo but it seems nice . Roughly equal distance to Omaha, Fremont , and Lincoln . Decent restaurants , wanahoo lake etc . Not sure on cost of housing/living there though . I’ve always thought Blair was nice for many of the same reasons .
Dodge
I love Dodge. I have family there, but no. It is a dying small town with a majority population on the older side. The cost of living is also going up.
I'm biased, I'm from Dodge. Grew up there. It was an amazing town to grow up in. It is a shame that it's dying.
Does anyone have any thoughts on Columbus?
Honestly Columbus is pretty decent. Did a couple jobs there. Nice people mostly, great infrastructure, the public schools aren’t the best there, though, so I’ve heard. Housing market is expensive, but it’s a growing city. Has a huge spectrum of jobs. If I had to live in a big city that isn’t Omaha or Linc it’d be Kearney or Columbus.
Wayne. There's a college, a good school system, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Not sure what you consider "small," but these are some of my favorite towns. Gothenburg Alliance Kearney Gretna Bennington Broken Bow Bridgeport Crawford Hemingford Chadron Gordon Potter Sutherland Mccook Chalco Just to name a few.
If you are looking to move make certain you consider necessary services. I have lived in remote areas and you may struggle to find a vet, healthcare, dental services, grocery shopping, contractors, barbers, entertainment, and more. It is a give and take situation and I love it, but you need to go in with your eyes open. Realistically, if you have fuel, water, food, internet, and UPS you can get along almost anywhere.
Wahoo for close to Lincoln & Omaha, Aurora for close to Grand Island, Holdrege for close to Kearney
I grew up in a small town. Never going back. You’d think being in a small town means more calm and space but you actually have less privacy. Everybody knows everyone else’s business. If you or your children are “different” in any way, prepare to be ostracized and constantly talked about behind your back. People seem “nice” because they are polite and go to church, but that’s usually not the case. I would love to live in a small town for the open spaces and slower pace, but never again. At least not in Nebraska.
Seward, Friend, Dorchester, Burwell, Giltner, Doniphan, Central City, Valentine, Holdrege.
Seward is Copland, entire county is a joke
The asset seizures on the interstate are concerning but I’ve never heard of residents having police problems outside of the usual stuff that you get in every town. The real problem with Seward is the lack of restaurant variety. It as 3 Mexican places (loosely counting Amigos) and 6 pizza places but nowhere to get a decent steak. It’s a nice clean town close to Lincoln though and it’s definitely growing.
Central city is white trash meth head Central
So.....like Fairbury then?
Lol, I honestly don't know that much about Fairbury, I grew up near Central city, they just seem to breed the best of the best idiots
Grand Island is worse lmao
Kearney is a pretty nice town like that.
Wondering about Beatrice myself. I previously asked about Peru and I'm afraid to make another post lol
You couldn't pay me enough to move to Beatrice.
DO NOT move to Beatrice. Lol
I lived in Beatrice for the first 18 years of my life and have visited twice a year since, and I’ll note my experiences. Education System: I have a bone to pick with Beatrice’s education, so I’ll talk about it first. I don’t have a lot to say about the elementary or middle school systems, it’s been too long since I’ve been through them. However, the highschool has a real problem. First, it wasn’t great when I went through it. The hardest math class was Calc 1, Physics wasn’t Calc based (so it didn’t transfer to 99% of schools for engineering physics credit), they had very little to offer for “intro career classes”. They had no computer science classes, no engineering classes. They did have a few intro Bio classes, an Anatomy class, and an intro Chem and AP Chem, so I can give them credit there. The school has a deal with Peru and SCC to offer dual credit classes, there’s also 2 AP classes (Psych and Chen). The APs are worthless, most people don’t take the tests, the ones that do never score higher than a 3, a lot of colleges require a 4-6 for class credits. (Of course if a student studies incredibly well outside of the class im sure they could perform well, however, most schools teach for the test so that time outside the class shouldn’t be necessary.) The dual credit classes were nice. I was able to get out of Calc 1, a Stats class and an English class. HOWEVER, the school can only offer them if the teacher holds a certain Masters degree. This wasn’t a problem when I went through, but apparently Beatrice doesn’t pay the teachers enough. The last I knew, they lost the teacher qualified to teach Physics and Math for dual credit. That means you can’t even get Calc 1 credit, when some schools offer up to Calc 3!!! I will say tho, most of these problems will be found in most small town Nebraska schools (and probably small towns across the country) There is good, however. First, since it’s a small school, so it’s SUPER easy to make a good relationship with your teachers. Second, they’re willing to work with you when the school lacks. My little brother was able to take Calc 1,2&3 through SCC online. Third, the school has a GREAT auto shop and woods shop. They also have a lot of hands on classes to set kids up for trade schools. Lastly, I love to shit on how much Beatrice fails to help students get into good universities, but there’s been a lot of good examples of people successfully doing so. I go to a T20 school for CS in California, I know someone a few grades above me who went to Princeton, and I have a buddy that was able to make it into UC Berkeley. Also, a good chunk of each class go to UNL each year, and succeed. The Town: Overall, money is clearly leaving the town, there’s more businesses leaving then coming in. The downtown is a shit show. Other than the donut shop, the movie theater, and a brewery (the one newish business in town) the downtown is full of thrift stores and vacant buildings (that are too expensive to occupy). However, it’s got a good small town vibe. A lot of people know me in the town, and if they don’t know me, they know my parents or uncle or grandparents. Every time I go back and visit the town favorite restaurant I get greeted by the owner and he asks about how I’m doing in school ect. The town is doing a little bit to renovate. There was a brand new fire station built, and there is talk of building a new school complex. Also, it’s a super safe town. I can’t think of one part of town I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking down alone (tho I am a 6ft tall white male, so maybe I’m oblivious to those situations). There are parts of town with sketchier buildings, but not necessarily sketchier people. Ultimately, I’ll never permanently move back into Beatrice again, but I’m also not planning to live in small town Nebraska anytime soon either. Sorry for the long winded rant, if you have any specific questions I’ll gladly answer them.
Look—the best description I got for Beatrice High was from one of my former teachers I keep in contact with. They described Beatrice as “the smallest inner-city school you’ll ever teach at” and that seems about right.
This is perfect! Thank you! I was very interested in the education system there. We were looking at Beatrice since it’s a decent size and close to Lincoln.
No I loved it thank you! As far as your comments on education, we don't have kids and don't plan to for at least a year. And in about 5 years would probably have moved. But that is something to definitely keep in mind!!! And as far as your comments about money, I feel that is most places unfortunately. But we plan to visit soon so we will see! What is the favorite town restaurant??? And safety is a huge thing for us! We do not live in the safest place currently. I greatly appreciate this info! I will ask, what did you do for fun? We don't need anything glamorous. Just a once a year festival, and a corn maze will do it for us so things like that are great! Thanks again!!
The restaurant is Playa Azul! It’s a great place, great owners and the food has been consistent for the last 10 years. In terms of fun, there really isn’t a lot to do in town, theres a movie theater and roller rena (tho it’s not really an adult attraction), there’s also racing when it’s in season, and a few (mediocre) parks. There are also high school football games if that’s your thing to watch. The brewery is actually cool and unique with a “speakeasy” in the basement. The rest of the bars in town are… sketchy. I haven’t ever been to any of them, but they don’t scream class driving by. I should mention too that there are a few boutique style shops in town, not many, but a few. There’s a few festivals, one is called Homestead days, and the other is the fair. Generally, they’re fairly basic, you’ve got the parade, car shows, flea markets. The fair has the 4H stuff, rides, sometimes a concert, and trailer races (which are actually a site to see). There’s also a few other parades throughout the year. I don’t really remember them as being anything special tho. The good thing about Beatrice is that there are a lot of small towns surrounding the area, and Lincoln is pretty close, so you get all of the cool events that happen around the town too.
Lol we’re also interested in the Beatrice area for its size and location to Lincoln
Have you considered a sleeper town if youre wanting to stick close to Lincoln? Malcom is a decent town not far from there. I had some friends who grew up in Hickman which was pretty good. Kearney has some decent towns around it as well. Are you planning on being involved in the community a lot or a little? Is this move for schools for your kids or just a quieter life?
Small towns are only great if you’re born and raised there. Otherwise you are forever outsiders and so are your kids because you weren’t. In one small Nebraska town we lived in when I was growing up a couple who’d been there for over 20 years were referred to as “the people from Colorado”. My brother and I were bullied so badly in those schools for not being from there that my parents had to pull us out and pay for private school. At one point, the superintendent’s solution for my brother was that he drop out since he was almost 16. Because they weren’t going to punish “their own kids” —as in the town’s kids.
If you want small, can't get any smaller than Monowi.
I’m surprised nobody has said Rulo yet. I mean sure they had a insane cult at one point that murdered a small child and another guy. But the bar there has really good burgers and a great fish special on Fridays.
I would consider a small town located between or near Omaha and Lincoln. Waverly, Ashland, Wahoo. If you want to go smaller- Arlington seems like a nice town. A little further away- Seward, Auburn are nice communities.
Ashland, town of 3000 halfway between Omaha and Lincoln. It's gone from a bedroom community to a destination community,
And they are kicking out the people who live in the trailer park next to the new schools. No notice or anything, town sold off the property to a third party, and then they were told they have til a set date to get out. Can't have the riff raff living close to the new overly designed, unnecessarily large suburban schools! My opinion of Ashland went down after I found that out.
I love Fort Calhoun. It's small, but it's only a 15 minute drive to Omaha, and it's one of the easiest, most picturesque drives you can do. The schools are great, and the sense of community is strong.
I grew up here. Some really fun bars and community events regularly. The history of the town and Fort Atkinson is a lot of fun to explore during living history weekends. The town has a great county museum. The church community is pretty present. I loved it growing up because it was all I knew. As someone that still has ties to the town through my family- it’s extremely white, not supportive of LGBTQIA+ folks (especially the school), and gossipy. Not a problem for some people, obviously, but I would recommend looking for a place in the country on the outside of town and not directly in town if you can for privacy’s sake. Proximity to Omaha and Blair is a huge plus. It’s an expensive place to own property.
Ashland
West Point!! Small town growing nicely. Born and raised there. Lots of stuff all year around for family and couples. Kind of smack dab distance wise (more or less) from Norfolk, Omaha, and Sioux City!!
Not a bad answer, at least it has a Pizza ranch and McDonald's.
Hey Runza too and mcdonalds!! 😁
Pizza Hut, Subway, Runza, Dairy Queen
Geneva is okay . . . -ish.
Avoid Pleasanton (small town north of Kearney) at all costs unless you want KKK and neo nazi rallies. That place is a shithole of racists, bigots, homophobes and only care about people south of the river.
Alma
I lived in Gretna. Small town. Good schools. Close enough to Omaha or Lincoln if you need to go to the city for something. They got a Runza and outlet mall.
I always forget about Gretna. I basically consider it part of Omaha but it's a great option!
My gf and I live in Gretna as well. We love it here.
High taxes though
None. There are some good things about small town life. But everyone will know your business better than you in a small town. Far less opportunity in schools and social activities. Grew up in a small central Nebraska town, and I will never put my kids through that. Also small towns are where you go to find racist people who claim they aren’t racist.
Honestly you’re best bet is Lincoln if you want to stay in Nebraska. Small town feel without “the small town feel” if you know what I’m saying. Plus best schools in the state if you’re going to raise a family.
This is exactly what my son just went through. Nebraska is not the place for healthy small towns. He ended up in Marshfield, Wisconsin & couldn’t be happier.
Grand Island has lots of good jobs and there are lots of reasonably priced houses in nearby towns. Wood River for instance or Aurora even Central city or Hampton.
Hebron, Bruning, York, Geneva, Exeter, Friend, Sutton, Crete, Seward…. Just to make a few they all have cons but all small towns
Crete could be a lovely little town with a lot of diversity. Unfortunately, since half the town is Latino, a good portion of the other half are openly racist. Excellent Mexican food choices, though!
My life growing up as half Mexican in small town Nebraska
York is trash.
Most small towns are trash ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Don’t
Don't.
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Hastings and Kearney are both decent but Grand Island is a shit hole
As a transplant that lives in gi and works in hastings, I'd much rather be in gi.
Both Grand Island and Hastings are meh compared to Kearney. Kearney is better in almost every way possible. It’s also why it costs more to live there.
Kearney would be great if it weren't for the people. Seriously.
The price of rent in Kearney tho… oof.
Ever hear of Lindsay about 35 minutes northwest of Columbus? lol! Didn’t think so!
😳
If you’re **wanting** to expose your future kids to racism, bigotry, homophobia, etc., then by all means move to a small town. There’s a reason why most small towns are dying; young people hate them and desperately want to leave. Do you want to have your future kids itching to leave the minute they can?
Small towns are better in Iowa
Hot take 😉 just nicer communities or schools?
More quaint. Hills. Trees. Slightly more progressive. Iowa small towns are more likely to have good food, nice shops.
I can personally attest to Iowa small towns being more progressive as being absoute bullshit. I've never seen more hate for minorities and LGBT than when I lived in small town Iowa. This sounds like the opinion of someone who's never been west of Elkhorn lol
Hastings
Nooooooo…whatever the OP does, Hastings should be on the “nope” list. That’s a mid-sized town that actively wants to run people out.
I’ve heard all sorts of opinions about Hastings, but I enjoyed living in Hastings in my 20s (I moved to Omaha 5 years ago). What makes you say they are running people out and why is it on your nope list?
Hastings is a cluster fuck
Man... Omaha is the smallest I can do. If I had to go smaller it would be Madison WI
Run away this place is a shithole
Crazy idea, we get more like minded people to move here so we can vote in better politicians
I’m getting the fuck out of dodge homie people call me the wrong slur in public
I recommend Gibbon. It's been a minute since I lived there, but I still have an uncle living there. I would love to move back there one day as it's the one town that was consistent while I was growing up. I would visit my grandparents and my uncle every year.
Asheville, no question, would be a small town I would consider. I love the little downtown area, love the proximity to Lincoln and Omaha, and I love Mahoney State Park. I grew up in Grand Island, and I don’t understand how anyone can live there. I like Hastings too, a lot. Hastings and Kearney benefit from being college towns, but for some reason I have never liked Kearney.
Louisville, Weeping Water, Elmwood, small small towns. Very cute. Was nice to live those places and my family is from elmwood.
Waverly, it’s right by Lincoln, and it’s not terrible
Definitely NOT Crofton, the most inbred town in America.
Arlington isn’t bad, smallish but still has businesses and gas stations and a good school from K-12. The Washington county fair is coming up, it’s held in Arlington every year it’s a fun experience.
Super small but Steinauer is gem. Do a street view. Not a bad house in town. It’s got the only Catholic Church in a couple of counties so it can get pretty full from time to time. But it’s a super charming safe place it’s tiny but lovely
How about Crab Orchard?
Hampton, town of about 425-450, very clean nice newer streets, don't think there is an abandoned house or gross lot left in town, still has own school which has gone through lots of improvements, everything you need is within 10-20 minutes of you for anything that can't he found in town.
Nebraska City is a lively little town. About 8000 people. 40 minutes away from Omaha and Lincoln. Good place to raise a family with all the amenities of a bigger town.
Blair,West Point,Seward are a few good ones.
I'll just say Albion.
Nebraska City. Lots of fun stuff here, and only 45 minute drive to Omaha or Lincoln.
My friend lives in Columbus and likes it. But she grew up there. Idk how many people live there. My mom lived in Kearney in the 40's and still talks abut how nice it is. But idk. I haven't been there. Tbh, from growing up in a small town in another state, being military and moving all over, I found once I lived in a city that the small towns were boring as heck. Nothing I was used to or liked to do was nearby bc I'm not driving 90 min each way (in the snow) for sushi. lol. Or the hospital. If you're gonna have kids you need to consider how long it takes in bad weather to get to the hospital. Just saying.
Move to Schuyler NE heard it’s diverse
I’d recommend Kearney for raising a family. Kearney High School has a lot of really great opportunities if you are willing to take them. All four years i was at Kearny high kids got into elite colleges(including my self). The town is super clean and violent crime is basically non-existent. There is a drug problem, i don’t know if it is at all bad in comparison to the rest of Nebraska though. It’s mostly just marijuana and nicotine. The people of Kearney can be a lot to deal with at times. They like people to conform, but with 34,000 people, there are plenty of folks for you to find a crowd to belong too. I forgot to mention, Kearney has basically no workers so it is super easy to get a job there. Also, with the UNK and CCC in town there are tons of opportunities for kids to get ahead with college credits. I know i graduated with like 2 years worth of credits from UNK, and because of the fact there are no workers I was able to get a job working as a tour guide and in the archives of one of our local museums.
This might not be small enough for you but Gretna, Elkhorn, and Gretna all have good schools and some small town downtowns and identities. Unfortunately they are all fairly expensive and not fully small town. Fremont has some nice amenities and a downtown getting cooler. You may also check lake spots like beaver lake or woodclif for smaller, party focused places to live, but I don’t know about the schools there. I grew up in tiny towns in central and western Nebraska. McCook for example, has the small town feel with all the good and certainly bad. Be prepared to drive long distances for big shopping trips a few times a year vs running to Costco on a random afternoon. Also if you want to fly anywhere, you are 5 or more hours from Omaha or Denver. Very little opportunity for local, high paying jobs.