The following guest editorial ran in the Omaha World-Herald on April 27, 2025. You can also read it here.
Midlands Voices: Nebraska's good life gets the rankings it deserves
One of the best parts of being your governor is bragging about Nebraska — and the people who make our state a great place to live, work, and raise our kids. We’ve got it pretty good, and it shouldn’t be a secret that life in Nebraska is great. My hope is that we all start celebrating our story a whole bunch more.
At a recent event, I met a family who had moved to Nebraska from a neighboring state. I cracked a smile and welcomed them with high-fives — telling them they made the right choice. It might seem like a small deal, but we need more of that type of stuff as we work to grow our state.
We know how special of a place this is, and we’ll put life in Nebraska up against any other place in the country. But — just like in football or volleyball — it’s fun when we have the rankings to back us up.
Since being elected to serve as governor, we’ve seen Nebraska’s good life get the rankings our state deserves:
- U.S. News & World Report put us as the No. 3 best overall state.
- I earned an “A’”grade from the CATO Institute as one of the nation’s most fiscal responsible governors, and the State of Nebraska just received an upgrade from Moody’s Ratings to AAA.
- According to most recently available data from the USDA, we’re No. 3 in the country in agricultural production.
- WalletHub scores Nebraska as the No. 4 best state to raise a family, the No. 3 hardest-working state and the No. 7 overall public school system.
- Ranked in the Top 10 for greatest five-year growth in 2024 by Forbes.
- We’re No. 10 overall for states where businesses are most likely to succeed, per Simply Business.
- Forbes ranked Omaha as the No. 1 best city in America to move to, and WalletHub puts Lincoln as the No. 6 happiest city.
- And, we’re growing, topping 2 million residents for the first time in our state’s history.
I’m not cherry picking — but each of these highlights the stuff Nebraskans are most proud of. It’s a testament to the people of our state.
Nebraska is safe, and we’re committed to our kids, our agricultural roots, and our commonsense values. We’re people who know our neighbors by name, not just by sight, and that trust builds a life where we treat others the way we want to be treated, which is a core belief I grew up with in Platte County and have practiced throughout my career.
Looking forward, we’re working hard to grow Nebraska and keep it a special place to call home. As part of those efforts, we need to keep Nebraska kids — our best and brightest — here at home after they graduate high school, and we must innovate, grow, and sharpen our workforce.
In particular, that means thinking outside the box to attract new talent and business to the state. Just a couple examples of the work we’re doing:
There’s untapped (and unending) potential for Nebraska to partner with leadership at Offutt Air Force Base to ensure alignment and build toward a vision that is great for American national security — and also helps strengthen our state.
When our military families get assigned to Offutt, they realize they want to make Nebraska their home. The truth is: We are uniquely positioned to recruit, build out, and grow an ecosystem of defense contractors and other businesses that support the mission of Offutt Air Force Base — and Team Nebraska is completely invested in the success of this mission.
Two other examples of some of the work we’re doing in related spaces: We’re expanding the University of Nebraska’s Presidential Scholars Program so it gives more Nebraska kids the opportunity to pursue higher education here at home. We’re also investing in specific needs across the state — like food security — by setting up programs like our Elite 11 Scholarship that will increase the number of veterinarians who work on farm and ranch animals.
Nebraska’s a land of opportunity and potential. We want generations of young people to see our state as their long-term home. That starts with an invitation — and a high-five. We’re making smart bets and putting in the work to promote and convince folks around the country that Nebraska is a heck of a place to put down roots. If you’re reading this, you already know that — but let’s make sure our kids know it too.
