Young Nebraskans would like to stay in their hometowns, study finds
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A new study revealed an encouraging future for small towns in Nebraska.
Nebraska students surveyed expressed a strong preference for small communities. Only 4% said they would like to live in a community larger than any in Nebraska.
“Gen Z, or the Centennial generation, are incredibly optimistic and confident about their communities,” said Jeff Yost, president of the Nebraska Community Foundation.
“They love their hometowns. The vast majority of them said they want to live in their hometowns when they are adults.”
The Nebraska Community Foundation partnered with the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Center for Public Affairs Research and school districts to survey 715 middle and high school students across the sate.
Most of the students agreed that safety, good schools and proximity to family are the three things they liked the most in their communities.
Forty-eight percent of respondents said the main reason they would not live in their community as an adult would be job or business opportunities elsewhere.
Yost said it is important that people don’t assume what the next generation is thinking.
He said communities need to ask them what they are thinking and invite them to be in community.
The Nebraska Community Foundation shares this information with 270 towns across Nebraska, community leaders and with citizens interested in attracting people to their communities.
