Study: Nebraska Among the Best States for Young People to Get Married

by Lewis Thune

(Picture credit Institute of Family Studies)

A newly released study shows that Nebraska is one of the best states in the nation to find a spouse. The study, published by the Institute of Family Studies, examined statistics for young adults aged 22-39 based on the 2024 American Community Survey’s 5-year estimates.

An interactive map of the study offers metrics such as marriage, employment, salary, and education.

Outside downtown Omaha and Lincoln, nearly half of the state’s young adult population is already married. Nonetheless, the American Community Survey found an excellent rate of new marriages across both urban and rural Nebraska.

In Omaha and surrounding areas, 7.8% of never-married young adults got married in the last year. In Lincoln, Kearney, and southeast Nebraska, the total was 7.6%. In western and northern Nebraska, the total was 8.9%.

Furthermore, marriage prospects for young women within Nebraska prove to be excellent. Young single men outnumber young single women by 20% in Omaha and Lincoln and by even more across the rest of the state. In fact, outside of Omaha and Lincoln, young single men still outnumber young single women even if men not working a full time job are excluded.

And while, in the Omaha area, there are less than 90 young, single, full-time employed men per 100 young single women, Nebraska’s largest city (excepting North Omaha) offers a higher concentration of young single men who exceed state median income. Per 100 young single women in Omaha, Bellevue, and surrounding areas, there are nearly 35 young single men earning $60,000 or more per year.

The accompanying report from the Institute of Family Studies ranks Northeast Nebraska as the fourth-best region in the nation for young adults of 22-29 to get married, behind only Provo-area Utah, West/Central Tennessee, and the suburbs of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

A major reason for this is the strong correlation between marriage rates and the population of young, single, full-time employed men. Northeast Nebraska boasts 103 of such men per 100 women, and with it an incredible 10.3% of 22–29 year-olds marrying in the last year.

And for the 30-39 demographic, Omaha and Lincoln quietly ranked well due to a respectable concentration college-educated men and high-earning men, which correlate positively with marriage rates of adults in their thirties and negatively with adults in their twenties.

Overall, Nebraska’s statewide average in excess of 7.5% of young adults marrying puts it among the best states in the country for marriage — and more importantly, better than Iowa.

— Lewis Thune is a writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.