Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

Safety85#136/924
Economy68#300/925
Housing49#475/925
Health76#226/925
Healthcare93#64/923
Environment88#113/917
Education73#254/925
Infrastructure75#231/925
Community96#35/925
Leisure & amenities72#261/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Hastings, NE micropolitan area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Frequent mental distress · low15.1%
98/100Nebraska 15.3%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAggregated from counties
Drug overdose deaths · low4.4 /100k
98/100Nebraska 6.6 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionAggregated from counties
Loneliness · low29.5%
98/100Nebraska 29.8%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionAggregated from counties
Public libraries · high2.2 /10k
97/100Nebraska 1.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesAggregated from counties
Average commute time · low16.9 min
94/100Nebraska 19.2 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
93/100Nebraska 2.3 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionAggregated from counties

Weaknesses

Distance to an airport · high139 mi
5/100Nebraska 65 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAggregated from counties
Job growth · low-2.5%
10/100Nebraska -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional data
Public transit commuters · low0.1%
12/100Nebraska 0.5%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty
Adult obesity · high41.4%
15/100Nebraska 39.8%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAggregated from counties
Effective property tax rate · high1.34%
16/100Nebraska 1.44%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
New business applications · low8.9 /1k
19/100Nebraska 11.3 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauAggregated from counties

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
1.3 /1k (2021) → 2.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+94%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Drought exposureWorsening
17% (2021) → 31% (Oct 2025–Sep 2026)
+14 pts5 yearsUS 40% → 43%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.7% (2015-2019) → 89.7% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Access to exercise opportunitiesImproving
66.6% (2010 & 2021) → 76.4% (2022 & 2024)
+9.7 pts3 yearsUS 79.8% → 84.5%
New business applicationsImproving
6.3 /1k (2020) → 8.9 /1k (2025)
+43%5 yearsUS 13.1 /1k → 16.6 /1k
Preventable hospital staysImproving
3,073 /100k (2019) → 1,894 /100k (2023)
−38%4 yearsUS 3,767 /100k → 2,769 /100k

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Hastings, NE micropolitan area improved on 11 of 26 measures with a comparison and declined on 5. 8 moved within the margin of error and 2 barely changed.

Earlier period
Latest period
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among metro and micro areas: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts. Periods differ by measure (most compare 2015-2019 with 2020-2024); each row names its own in its tooltip and in the table.

Improved11

Libraries+13%2.0 /10k → 2.2 /10k
Traffic deaths−17%16.0 /100k → 13.3 /100k
Uninsured−1.7 points8.9% → 7.2%
Real income+37%$57,715 → $79,007
Broadband+11 points78.7% → 89.7%

Declined5

Gyms−25%1.0 /10k → 0.7 /10k
Pharmacies−22%2.2 /10k → 1.7 /10k
Restaurants−7.3%9.8 /10k → 9.1 /10k
Grocery stores−11%2.2 /10k → 2.0 /10k
Suicides+7.3%18.2 /100k → 19.5 /100k

All 26 measures

Change of every measure of Hastings, NE micropolitan area between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Arts, entertainment and recreation	4.9 /10k2020	5.7 /10k2025	+15%	Improved	66%
Average commute time	16.8 min2015-2019	16.8 min2020-2024	+0.0 min	Within the margin of error	64%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.3%2015-2019	27.7%2020-2024	+3.3 points	Improved	64%
Broadband subscriptions	78.7%2015-2019	89.7%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	71%
Child poverty rate	16.8%2015-2019	12.9%2020-2024	−3.9 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Distance to an airport	139 mi2020	139 mi2025	−0 mi	Little change	90%
Drug overdose deaths	5.8 /100k2020	4.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026	−25%	Improved	51%
Effective property tax rate	1.54%2015-2019	1.34%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	74%
Grocery stores	2.2 /10k2020	2.0 /10k2025	−11%	Declined	22%
Gyms and fitness centers	1.0 /10k2020	0.7 /10k2025	−25%	Declined	16%
High school diploma or higher	90.0%2015-2019	92.9%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	90%
Income adjusted for local prices	$57,7152019	$79,0072024	+37%	Improved	80%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4442015-2019	0.4532020-2024	+0.010	Within the margin of error	29%
Median household income	$53,0232015-2019	$69,5102020-2024	+31%	Improved	71%
New business applications	6.3 /1k2020	8.9 /1k2025	+43%	Improved	45%
Pharmacies	2.2 /10k2020	1.7 /10k2025	−22%	Declined	16%
Poverty rate	12.5%2015-2019	11.5%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Public libraries	2.0 /10k2019	2.2 /10k2024	+13%	Improved	93%
Rent as share of income	27.3%2015-2019	29.2%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Rent-burdened households	44.4%2015-2019	49.0%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Restaurants and bars	9.8 /10k2020	9.1 /10k2025	−7.3%	Declined	18%
Suicide rate	18.2 /100k2020	19.5 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026	+7.3%	Declined	43%
Traffic deaths	16.0 /100k2015-2019	13.3 /100k2020-2024	−17%	Improved	85%
Unemployment rate	3.9%2020	2.9%2025	−1 points	Improved	5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.9%2015-2019	7.2%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Improved	82%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 925 metro and micro areas that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: Regional Economic Accounts; Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; Mapping Injury, Overdose, and Violence; American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Business Formation Statistics; Public Libraries Survey; Fatality Analysis Reporting System; Distance to airports and intercity rail. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 925 metro and micro areas that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Metro and micro areas like Hastings, NE micropolitan area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Hastings, NE micropolitan area in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Hastings, NE micropolitan area itself moved −1.1 points in standing on average over the same 26 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

40,507 residents

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

17,059 households (±272)

Hastings, NE micropolitan area
United States share

Under $25k18%3,097
$25k–50k18%3,011
$50k–75k18%3,124

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

17,059 households (±272)

Hastings, NE micropolitan area
United States share

Own72%12,363
Rent28%4,696

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+6.0 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

20,589 workers (±418)

Hastings, NE micropolitan area
United States share

Drive alone82%16,847
Carpool9.2%1,885
Public transit0.1%†13

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes no occupation wages for Hastings, NE micropolitan area.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

Hastings, NE has 1,265 employer establishments, 313 for every 10,000 residents (1.26× the US rate of 248), with 14,607 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,540. The Census Bureau also counts 3,256 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,265; 3,256 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 313; US 248
Paid employees: 14,607
Average annual pay: $47,540; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Hastings, NE by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	90	22.3	1.07×About typical	817	$70,158	121
Specialty trade contractors	84	20.8	1.34×More than typical	569	$58,308	264
Restaurants and other eating places	76	18.8	1.02×About typical	1,229	$17,089	3
Truck transportation	62	15.4	3.04×More than typical	209	$56,962	117
Lessors of real estate	44	10.9	0.88×About typical	102	$33,686	403
Religious organizations	42	10.4	1.87×More than typical	220	$22,364	—
Building equipment contractors	41	10.2	1.69×More than typical	335	$60,093	61
Construction of buildings	41	10.2	1.34×More than typical	133	$41,782	125
Services to buildings and dwellings	36	8.9	1.32×More than typical	235	$22,311	195
Limited-service restaurants	32	7.9	0.99×About typical	573	$17,293	3
Insurance agencies and brokerages	31	7.7	1.75×More than typical	113	$75,062	77
Automotive repair and maintenance	30	7.4	1.48×More than typical	120	$41,342	71

Rank places for an industry

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 40,390 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
A metro area's figures are the exact sums of its counties.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contract spending

In FY2026, federal agencies obligated $9.7M on contracts performed in Hastings, NE micropolitan area: $238 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $9.7M; −40% vs FY2025
Per resident: $238; US $1,994
Sole-source: 19%; US 30%
Single offer: 8.3%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

In FY2026, federal agencies obligated $309.1M in grants, loans, direct payments and insurance for Hastings, NE micropolitan area: $7,618 per resident (US $12,955).

Assistance · FY2026: $309.1M; −6.8% vs FY2025
Per resident: $7,618; US $12,955
Loan face value: $4.3M; lent or guaranteed
To individuals: 18%; counted, never named

Top programs

96.002 · Social Security Retirement Insurance$168.1M54%
10.988 · Supplemental Disaster Relief Program$37.5M12%
64.109 · Veterans Compensation for Service-Connected Disability$24.2M7.8%
96.001 · Social Security Disability Insurance$19M6.1%
96.004 · Social Security Survivors Insurance$14.3M4.6%
10.990 · Farmer Bridge Assistance Program$10.9M3.5%
10.912 · Environmental Quality Incentives Program$5.1M1.7%
57.001 · Social Insurance for Railroad Workers$5M1.6%

Top recipients (organizations)

NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION$6M2.0%
LINCOLN, NE
HASTINGS COLLEGE$1.8M0.6%
HASTINGS, NE
CITY OF HASTINGS, NEBRASKA$1.6M0.5%
HASTINGS, NE
CITY OF HASTINGS$699.2K0.2%
HASTINGS, NE
FRANSSEN PROPERTIES INC$638.4K

Organizations only: awards to individuals and county aggregate records count in the totals but are never listed. Grants to state governments recorded at the agency's own address are counted statewide, not in the capital's county.

Top agencies

Social Security Administration$206.3M67%
Farm Service Agency$47.8M15%
Department of Agriculture
Under Secretary for Benefits/Veterans Benefits Administration$27.6M8.9%
Department of Veterans Affairs
Natural Resources Conservation Service$6.4M2.1%
Department of Agriculture
Federal Highway Administration

Assistance by fiscal year

306.8MFY2021
252.4MFY2022
259.7MFY2023
270MFY2024
331.6MFY2025
309.1MFY2026

County aggregates

77%

Share of obligations reported only as county totals of many small awards (for example Social Security or Medicare payments), with no recipient named.

Source: Federal financial assistance transactions (Financial Assistance Broker Submission) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026 · FY2021–FY2026.

Counties in Hastings, NE

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

HastingsPrincipal city25,008

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

Other metro and micro areas in Nebraska

Areas based in Nebraska, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

Mapping Injury, Overdose, and ViolenceCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2026-10-01
PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Daily county PM2.5 and ozone (EPA downscaler model)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · release 2022
Care Compare: Hospital General Information and Timely and Effective CareCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services · release 2026-07-22
Distance to airports and intercity railFederal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census Bureau · release 2025+amtrak-2026-04-23
Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Return A master filesFederal Bureau of Investigation · release 2025
Public Libraries SurveyInstitute of Museum and Library Services · release FY2024
U.S. Drought Monitor county statisticsNational Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAA · release 2026-09-29
Fatality Analysis Reporting SystemNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration · release 2024
nClimGrid-Daily county averagesNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · release 2025
Regional Economic AccountsU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis · release 2024
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
Quarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2026 Q1
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Business Formation StatisticsU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-10-01
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Alternative Fuels Data Center station locatorU.S. Department of Energy · release 2026-10
Election Administration and Voting SurveyU.S. Election Assistance Commission · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/M25580

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends

What changed in five years

Improved11

Declined5

Metro and micro areas like Hastings, NE micropolitan area five years ago that improved

Who lives here

Age and sex

Income

Household income

Homes

Owners and renters

Getting to work

How people get to work

Jobs and pay

Local businesses

Federal contract spending

Top buying agencies

Federal grants & assistance

Top programs

Top recipients (organizations)

Top agencies

Assistance by fiscal year

County aggregates

Counties in Hastings, NE

Principal cities

Largest cities and towns

Other metro and micro areas in Nebraska

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Similar metro and micro areas

Data and sources

Improved11

Declined5

Age and sex

Household income

Owners and renters

How people get to work

Race and Hispanic origin

Education

Rent paid

Home values

Age of homes

Size of homes

Time to get to work

Top programs

Top recipients (organizations)

Top agencies

Assistance by fiscal year

County aggregates

Top buying agencies

By type

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

What was bought

Top industries (NAICS)

Largest awards