LINCOLN, NE – In an editorial published today by The Federalist, Governor Jim Pillen addressed the Trump Administration’s efforts to rethink the size and scope of the U.S. Department of Education, an effort he supports.
The ranking shows how well each state serves its residents in a variety of ways, using data from 71 metrics across 8 categories - including Health Care, Education, Economy, Infrastructure, Opportunity, Fiscal Stability, Crime and Corrections, and Natural Environment. Each category's weighting is based on respondents' priorities from 3 years of national survey data.
Source: U.S. News & World Report, May 2025
In order to determine the happiest states in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Emotional & Physical Well-Being, 2) Work Environment and 3) Community & Environment.
Nebraska ranked in the top 10 in each category and 3rd overall.
Source: WalletHub, September 2025
In order to determine the best states to raise a family, WalletHub compared the 50 states across five key dimensions: 1) Family Fun, 2) Health & Safety, 3) Education & Child Care, 4) Affordability and 5) Socio-economics.
Nebraska ranked 5th overall.
Source: WalletHub, January 2026
This measure indicates the net direction of all local and long-distance moves in the United States booked through HireAHelper and its affiliates in 2024. Net gains and losses are expressed as a percentage of all moves, rather than by population change, and include additional data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Source: HireAHelper, January 2025
The total score represents the likelihood of new businesses surviving their early years, with 100 being the most likely to succeed. The index is based on a weighted average of private-sector establishments' survival rates throughout each of their first 3 years, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Business Employment Dynamics.
Source: Simply Business, December 2024
The total cash receipts per capita for statewide production of all agricultural commodities in 2023, expressed in nominal dollars. Nebraska ranks #1 in the country.
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Updated Feb 6, 2025 for 2023
The percent growth in a state's quarterly output, which is the sum of value added from all industries in the state; in chained 2017 dollars to compare real growth by quarter over 5 years.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Reported by Forbes, 1st Qtr 2024
Lincoln, NE – Governor Jim Pillen says he is encouraged that a review and subsequent changes to a rule defining waters of the United States or WOTUS, will result in benefits to Nebraska farmers, ranchers, developers, businesses and landowners. Gov. Pillen was among a group of governors, who in early 2023, objected to the revised definition and sent a letter to then-President Biden calling its implementation problematic.
LINCOLN, NE — Governor Jim Pillen has signed LB609 into law. This bipartisan, law-enforcement-supported legislation establishes the Controllable Electronic Record Fraud Prevention Act to help combat fraud and protect users of cryptocurrency kiosks/ATMs.
