Moving to Nebraska
Moving to Nebraska in 2026 means budgeting around a four-bracket income tax that's actively falling (a 4.55% top rate for 2026, already legislated to drop to 3.99% in 2027), a full state-tax exemption on both Social Security and military retirement income, and two real, disclosed costs working against that tax relief: a statewide property tax rate among the highest in the country and a hail-driven homeowners-insurance market ranked among the nation's most expensive.
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Learn moreNebraska's income tax is falling fast, and Social Security and military retirement pay are both fully exempt
Nebraska's individual income tax runs four graduated brackets for tax year 2026 (single filers): 2.46% up to $3,990, 3.51% on $3,990-$23,930, 4.40% on $23,930-$38,580, and a top marginal rate of 4.55% above $38,580 -- down from 5.20% in 2025, 5.84% in 2024, 6.64% in 2023, and 6.84% in 2022, under 2023's Legislative Bill 754, and legislated to fall further to 3.99% in 2027. Nebraska separately fully exempts Social Security income from state tax (100% exempt since tax year 2024, the end point of a multi-year phase-down) and offers a simple 100% exemption on military retirement pay for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, with no election or special form required -- a genuinely rare combined retiree benefit worth budgeting into any relocation decision.
Property tax is Nebraska's real cost to budget for -- among the highest in the country
Nebraska's statewide effective property tax rate clusters around 1.50% (a real cross-source range of 1.42%-1.61%), consistently ranking among the seven to twelve highest-property-tax states nationally -- roughly 65% above the approximately 0.91% national average by some measures. County-level variation is substantial: rates run as low as approximately 0.45% in rural Keya Paha County up to 1.75%-2.11% in Douglas County (Omaha's home county), where the median annual bill runs $4,295; Lancaster County's (Lincoln) median bill runs $3,364. The statewide median annual bill of approximately $3,350 sits well above the roughly $2,400 national median. Real, ongoing legislative relief is underway -- 2024's LB 34 frontloaded a 30% school-district-tax credit directly onto tax statements, and 2026's LB 803 expanded 'Truth in Taxation' hearing and growth-limit rules -- but this record discloses that relief as genuinely incomplete rather than resolved.
Get a homeowners-insurance quote before you budget -- hail, not hurricanes, drives Nebraska's costs
Nebraska's homeowners insurance carries real, documented, genuinely serious cost: statewide average premiums run roughly $6,015-$6,587/year across sources reviewed, with multiple 2026 sources placing Nebraska among the four to five most expensive states in the nation for home coverage -- genuinely worse by some measures than hurricane-exposed Florida. The mechanism is specific: sustained, severe hail losses concentrated in eastern Nebraska, with multiple major hailstorm events between 2022 and 2024 alone driving hundreds of millions of dollars in claims and pushing insurers to raise rates and tighten underwriting statewide. Get a property-specific quote before finalizing any move, particularly in eastern Nebraska.
Know which Nebraska you're moving to
Nebraska is genuinely not one market. The Omaha metro (Omaha, Bellevue, Papillion, La Vista, Ralston) is the largest, most diversified market, recently crossing one million residents, anchored by Berkshire Hathaway and Mutual of Omaha's corporate headquarters, Offutt Air Force Base (U.S. Strategic Command), and a fast-growing Google data-center footprint. Lincoln, the state capital, carries a distinct government/university identity around the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Tri-Cities/central Nebraska corridor (Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings) anchors the state's real, substantial agricultural economy, while the Panhandle (Scottsbluff, Gering, Sidney, Alliance, Chadron) is a genuinely sparsely populated western market distinct in character from the more populated eastern third of the state.
Key takeaways
- Nebraska's income tax is a four-bracket system for 2026, running 2.46% to 4.55%, already legislated to fall further to a flat 3.99% in 2027.
- Social Security has been 100% exempt from Nebraska state income tax since tax year 2024, and military retirement pay has been 100% exempt since 2022 -- a genuinely rare combined retiree benefit.
- Property tax clusters around 1.50% statewide, among the 7-12 highest in the nation, with real but genuinely incomplete relief legislation (LB 34, LB 803) still unfolding.
- Homeowners insurance runs $6,015-$6,587/year on average, among the 4-5 most expensive states nationally, driven specifically by hail losses concentrated in eastern Nebraska.
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