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Lincoln’s population is aging faster than younger people can move to the city. From 2013 to 2023, Lincoln's population of people 65 and older grew by about 42%. Meanwhile, the average growth rate for other age groups was about 5%.
That was just one of the many findings of the latest Lincoln Vital Signs report, first created in 2014 to take the pulse of the city and its needs. The 2025 report, authored by the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, also highlighted access to child care and housing and economic trends. Prosper Lincoln, an initiative of the Lincoln Community Foundation that looks at the report and creates actionable items, set goals for the community during a Wednesday kick-off event at Nebraska Innovation Campus where the first Vital Signs study in three years was unveiled.
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The city’s overall population grew by about 10% from 2013 to 2023 -- the decade mainly covered by the report -- but the city’s older population has grown at a faster rate, the study showed. In 2023, there were 45,941 adults aged 65 and older in Lincoln, 13,607 more than in 2013. Lincoln’s shift toward an older population will drive a demand for services and initiatives that serve the needs of an older population, the report concluded.
Tracy Edgerton, the president of the Lincoln Community Foundation, said that shift may impact decisions in city planning and housing. Tracy Edgerton, the new president and CEO for the Lincoln Community Foundation. “Those decisions that we make in the future will be affected by the fact that that age group is growing at such a pace,” Edgerton said.
The report also noted most newcomers to Lincoln are younger. In 2023, 42% of new Lincoln residents were in the 18-24 age group. The analysis showed that although Lincoln is predominantly white, the city has been becoming more diverse.
From 2013 to 2023, the number of people of color in Lincoln grew by 23%. Areas for growth Prosper Lincoln set child care costs, housing access and creating community connections as central goals Wednesday. The cost of child care has increased across the board, the report showed.
And while costs dipped in 2019, they soared following the pandemic. Prosper Lincoln’s previous work on the issue led to the development of Lincoln Littles, a nonprofit focused on growing access to child care and early childhood education. Edgerton said the program was developed out of a tuition assistance program for people who didn’t qualify for state subsidies.
On the issue of housing, Lincoln showed some progress during the decade studied, but work still remains. In 2022, the cost of housing was 86% of the national average. But about 45% of renters and 22% of homeowners with a mortgage are spending more than 30% of their income on housing, according to the report.
And while there has been a decrease of about 50% in adults experiencing homelessness since 2012, the number of homeless adults rose in 2022 and 2023. Prosper Lincoln set goals to enhance equitable early access to early childhood education and helping residents live in homes they can afford. The organization also set creating connections as a goal.
“One of the things that popped out at us was that folks are feeling increasingly isolated from one another,” Edgerton said. “It made sense to capture the opportunities to create more connections within our community.” Challenges, successes When looking at economic data, Lincoln has several points of pride, including a low cost of living and low unemployment.
But although the cost of living is below the national average, Lincoln’s per-capita income adjusted for the lower cost of living is below the average U.S. metropolitan area, meaning that people generally have less buying power.
But Lincoln has been catching up. In 2022, the city’s per-capita income was about the same as the U.S.
overall, but trailed the U.S. metropolitan average per-capita income by more than $2,000.
Lincoln's median household income was lower in 2023 than it was before the pandemic when adjusting for the value of the dollar, according to the report. In 2023, the median household income was $68,050. Lincoln’s unemployment rate remained lower than the U.
S. rate throughout several periods of economic uncertainty, including the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic. The city’s unemployment rate was most recently measured at 3.
2% in February , higher than the state rate but lower than the national figure of 4.2% in March. The report also highlighted Lincoln’s well-educated population.
About 54% of adults in Lincoln have a post-secondary degree, which is up from 48% in 2013. Lincoln also had more people with a high school diploma than the national average in 2023. Meanwhile, the number of residents with post-graduate or professional degrees was higher than the state and national averages.
The Vital Signs report is really a jumping off point, Edgerton said. “The next step is for folks to embrace understanding this information and then finding ways that they can plug in and be part of what happens as we figure out what the next steps are,” Edgerton said. Download the new Journal Star News Mobile App Top Journal Star photos for April 2025 (From left) Eleanor Isaacson, Aspen Isaacson, Levi Isaacson and Norah Isaacson empty their plastic easter eggs of candy on Saturday, April 19, 2025, at Woods Park in Lincoln.
An opponent of LB89, also known as the Stand With Women Act, holds a LGBTQ+ pride flag up to a window as Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln prints something off during a floor debate at the Capitol on Tuesday. Papillion-La Vista's Ryan Thompson breaks his bat as he hits the ball against Lincoln East on Monday at Sherman Field.
Jadyn Olesen (center) embraces Olive Brethouwer (left) and Violet Brethouwer (right) after her performance on Monday at the Railyard in Lincoln. Violet considers Olesen her hero, and even cut her hair to resemble the singer’s. Lincoln Southwest's Peyton Tiernan (14) and Lincoln Southwest's Yai Tong (18) vie for possesion of the ball against Lincoln Southeast's Jack Talley (6) during the first half at Seacrest Field on Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Lincoln.
Protesters gather on the north steps of the Capitol during an anti-Trump demonstration on Saturday. Charlotte Eberle, 8, leaps over rows of tulips while picking flowers with her family at SR Pumpkin and Flower Farm near Ceresco on Friday. Construction worker Gustavo Leverman works on a home in the 800 block of West Avondale Street on Tuesday.
Rising costs for building materials like lumber due to tariffs have raised the average cost of building a home. Luke Shaner peeks through a fake dinosaur egg with his toy T-Rex at the Jurassic Quest event Friday at the Sandhills Global Event Center. Lincoln East's Carter Harmes (3) high fives his teammates after scoring a run as he heads back inside the dugout in the second inning of the HAC baseball championship at Den Hartog Field on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Lincoln Star goalkeeper Yan Shostak (33) blocks a shot by Sioux City's Nikita Klepov (92) as he is backed up by teammate Gio Digiulian (17) during the second period in Game 1 of a USHL Western Conference semifinals series Friday, April 18, 2025, at the Ice Box. Damien Rodriguez (front to back), Jason Bell and Cesar Gonzalez, who competed as the team “Three Blind Mice,” pull a plane on Saturday during the Woman in Aviation Cornhusker Chapter's 2nd Annual Plane Pull at the Lincoln Airport. Loren Eiseley Society vice president Thomas Lynch (from left), society president Bing Chen, and Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird unveil a new historical marker honoring writer Loren Eiseley on Friday at Irvingdale Park.
Mary Abebe (left) returns to her seat after being named the 2025 Scottish Rite Educator of the Year as Brenda Barnett and Stacie Coatman congratulate her on Friday at Adams Elementary School. Abebe, who teachers computer science, started at Lincoln Public Schools in 1995 and moved to Adams in 2019. Lincoln Northeast's Lazerek Houston poses for a photo during the 2025 Super State photoshoot at the Lincoln Journal Star on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Lincoln.
Omaha Skutt's Molly Ladwig poses for a photo during the 2025 Super State photoshoot at the Lincoln Journal Star on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Lincoln. Nebraska head coach Rhonda Revelle (from left) embraces player Natalia Hill at the top of the 6th inning next to Jordyn Bahl during the Creighton game on Wednesday at Bowlin Stadium. Zemi Wolfe records as she dumps water on her mother, Rudi Wolfe, on Saturday at Zeman Elementary School.
The school hosted a color run, picnic, splash towers and other family-friendly events with proceeds going to support the school's summer activities. Protesters with the American Federation of Government Employees union (AFGE) hold a rally outside of the Lincoln VA Clinc at on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Lincoln. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) local representing Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Lincoln VA Clinic rallied Tuesday to stop the attacks on the federal workforce.
Cows graze in the fields below as Sandhill Cranes take flight at sunrise along the Platte River on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Kearney. The Cranes eat corn from the grain fields and then sleep on the sandbars. The largest congregation of sandhill cranes occurs from February to early April along the Platte River in Nebraska.
Gretna East senior Sonora DeFini scores against Lincoln Southwest with a header during a high school soccer game on Monday, April 7, 2025, at Beechner Athletic Complex. Sen. Ashlei Spivey during debate on a bill that would return Nebraska to a winner-take-all presidential election system at the Capitol on Tuesday.
Halsey, a Great Horned Owl, looks through a kaleidoscope of mirrors on display on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Indian Center Inc in Lincoln. Lincoln Southwest's Sole Jones (center) competes against other athletes in heat one of the girls 400m during a track and field invitational at Union Bank Stadium on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Lincoln. A bee covered in pollen buzzes from flower to flower on Sunday, April 6, 2025, at the Sunken Gardens in Lincoln.
Jarrek Renshaw, a lead mechanic, works on an engine in a testing area at Duncan Aviation on Wednesday. Duncan is expanding its engine overhaul facility, which will allow it to test engines for Canadian aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. University of Kansas students Remi Ward (left) and Jess Judd test out their concrete canoe Friday at Holmes Lake.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering hosted a competition in which college students from across the region used their own concrete mixes to design and build canoes -- some more than 20 feet long and weighing more than 300 pounds. The canoes were tested for buoyancy and raced at Holmes Lakes. The event was part of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Mid-America Student Symposium hosted by UNL from Thursday through Saturday.
Rutgers’ Yomar Carreras (left) slides into home as Nebraska’s Will Jesske tags him out on Sunday at Haymarket Park. An early voter drops off her ballot at a drop box at the Lancaster County Election Commission Office, 601 N. 46th St.
, on Friday in Lincoln. The primary election is Tuesday. Nebraska defensive line coach Terry Bradden talks to players during a team practice on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at Hawks Championship Center.
Sandhill Cranes excitedly dance with one another as they begin to stir along the sandbars on the Platte River the morning of Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Kearney.' Hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes have been converging on the Platte Basin for their annual migration to their northern breeding grounds. Every spring, as sandhill cranes are migrating to their breeding grounds, cranes without partners will start pairing up.
During this time, the cranes perform dancing displays. Although the dancing is most common in the breeding season, the cranes can dance all year long. Sometimes the dance involves wing-flapping, bowing, and jumping.
Jacob Huebert, president of the Liberty Justice Center, argues at the Nebraska Supreme Court in a case over the city's ban on guns in public places on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at the Capitol. Gov. Jim Pillen (right) greets World War II veterans Clare Sward (from left) and Jay Cawley on Tuesday in Lincoln.
Lincoln Pius X's Tatum Heimes (from left) and Ana Patera look on as Gretna East's Lily Frederick (far right) celebrates a goal with teammate Madi Shelburne during a high school soccer game on Monday, March 31, 2025, in Lincoln. Reach the writer at [email protected] or 402-473-7391.
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