Jobs & Economy in Nebraska
Nebraska's economy carries a real, distinctive, multi-sector identity this record names specifically rather than a vague label: a genuine #2-nationally position in both cattle inventory and red meat production, Berkshire Hathaway's and Mutual of Omaha's current Omaha headquarters presence, Offutt Air Force Base's role as U.S. Strategic Command's headquarters, and a fast-growing, escalating Google data-center sector -- alongside a real, current 3.0% unemployment rate (January 2026), the sixth-lowest in the nation, detailed fully in nebraska.js's own economy metrics.
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Learn moreA real, top-tier agricultural economy -- genuinely #2 nationally in beef, not #1, plus #3 corn and #5 soybeans
Agriculture is real and substantial in Nebraska, though this record corrects a common overstatement rather than assuming the state ranks #1 nationally in beef: per USDA/NASS data reviewed in nebraska.js's own economy metrics, Nebraska ranks #2 nationally in cattle and calves inventory (6.05 million head as of January 1, 2025) and #2 in commercial red meat production (nearly 8 billion pounds in 2024, about 14.5% of the U.S. total) -- a real, substantial, top-tier national position, genuinely second rather than first, even as Nebraska's popular "Beef State" nickname remains apt given that #2 ranking. Nebraska separately ranks #3 nationally in corn-for-grain production (a record 2025 forecast of roughly 1.97 billion bushels) and #5 in soybean production.
Berkshire Hathaway and Mutual of Omaha anchor a real, current Omaha corporate-headquarters identity
Omaha's real, genuine corporate-headquarters identity centers on Berkshire Hathaway and Mutual of Omaha, both of which nebraska.js's own economy metrics verify as current rather than assuming an earlier leadership picture still holds: Greg Abel became Berkshire Hathaway's CEO effective January 1, 2026 (Warren Buffett remains Chairman of the Board and a major presence at the company's Omaha-based annual shareholder meeting), and Mutual of Omaha is completing a new 44-story downtown-Omaha headquarters tower targeted for completion in summer 2026, with employee counts ranging from roughly 7,900 to 9,500 worldwide.
Offutt Air Force Base and a fast-escalating Google data-center sector round out Omaha's real economic diversification
Offutt Air Force Base (Bellevue, in the Omaha metro) is real, genuine, and a significant regional economic anchor as the headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), one of eleven U.S. Department of Defense unified combatant commands, responsible for strategic nuclear deterrence, global strike, and related missions, per nebraska.js's own economy metrics. A real, growing tech/data-center sector is concentrated substantially around Google's existing Nebraska footprint -- data centers in Omaha, Papillion, and Lincoln, more than $3.5 billion invested in the state's digital infrastructure since 2019, and an estimated 13,300 annual jobs supported from 2021-2023 -- alongside a real, current escalation: a proposed new Google data center reported in March 2026 that could draw more electricity at peak than the entire city of Lincoln, tied to a real, disclosed, actively debated legislative proposal to allow privately built natural-gas power plants dedicated to large industrial customers like data centers.
A real, comparatively strong 3.0% unemployment rate, alongside a modest, not dramatic, cost-of-living edge
Nebraska's unemployment rate ran a real, current, genuinely strong 3.0% (seasonally adjusted) as of January 2026 -- the sixth-lowest in the nation, a full 1.3 percentage points below the 4.3% national rate the same month, per nebraska.js's own economy metrics. Nebraska's cost of living runs a real, modest 7.4% below the national average -- genuinely more affordable than the national baseline, though this record discloses honestly that the margin is real but not dramatic, unlike several substantially cheaper states this dataset has documented elsewhere, consistent with nebraska.js's own decision not to apply a LOW_COST_OF_LIVING tag on this more modest showing.
Key takeaways
- Nebraska ranks a real #2 nationally in both cattle inventory and red meat production (genuinely second, not first, despite the state's 'Beef State' branding), plus #3 in corn and #5 in soybean production.
- Berkshire Hathaway (Greg Abel, CEO since January 1, 2026, with Buffett remaining Chairman) and Mutual of Omaha (a new 44-story downtown tower completing summer 2026) anchor Omaha's real, current corporate-headquarters identity.
- Offutt Air Force Base is the real, significant headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command, and a fast-growing Google data-center sector is escalating -- a March 2026 proposed facility could draw more power than the entire city of Lincoln.
- Unemployment ran a real, current 3.0% in January 2026, the 6th-lowest nationally and 1.3 points below the national rate, alongside a cost of living running a modest, real 7.4% below the national average.
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