Relocating to Nebraska?

Enjoy your adventure as you visit the best Nebraska relocation resource available today.

Before you start your journey, take a minute and review what makes Nebraska a great place to work and play.

What makes Nebraska real estate worthwhile?

In 1820 Army explorer Major Stephen Long called the expansive western plains of Nebraska a great American desert, declaring that the land was completely unfit for farming. To say the least, the development of Nebraska since that time has proven him wrong. Today the state is one of the most fruitful agricultural areas in the nation. Vast wheat fields and sprawling cattle ranches of up to 40,000 hectares (up to 100,000 acres) blanket much of this western “desert,” and eastern Nebraska is home to numerous smaller but more diverse farms. Farms cover more than 90 percent of the state’s area and contribute nearly 11 percent of the gross state product. Only the farming areas of North and South Dakota account for such a large percentage of land and earnings. Livestock products—mainly beef cattle and hogs—account for about two-thirds of all farm income, and much of the state’s leading crop, corn, is used for livestock feed. Other significant harvests from the farms of Nebraska include soybeans, sorghum, and wheat.

Although the United States had acquired Nebraska from France as part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, occupation of the region was officially restricted to Native Americans until Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. This piece of legislation opened the newly formed Nebraska Territory to outside settlement. The steady growth that ensued in the area for much of the 19th century was largely the result of two 1862 congressional bills: The Homestead Act granted settlers 65 hectares (160 acres) of free land out west, and the Pacific Railroad Act authorized the construction of a transcontinental railroad beginning in Omaha and passing westward through Nebraska.

The state’s population continued to increase in the 20th century, although at a much slower rate. As agricultural methods became more mechanized, farms increased in size and reduced in number, forcing many to leave their rural homes in search of work in the state’s growing cities. By 1990 about two-thirds of all Nebraskans lived in urban areas.

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