About Omaha

Omaha Skyline

Omaha is a vibrant, attractive city that provides all the amenities of a much larger metropolitan area and yet, is family oriented and friendly. Omaha boasts an attractively low cost of living that is 19 percent less than the national average.

   

Arts-Entertainment-Family-Culture

Qwest
The city of Omaha has a great energy! The art scene is thriving, the night life is hopping. Residents in Omaha enjoy arts, entertainment, cultural events, museum exhibits, ethnic and heritage festivals, sports and special events.

Find out what the locals love in the 2009 edition of Omaha Magazine’s Best of Omaha.

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Sports and Leisure

Sports

Enjoy a day at the ballpark with Omaha’s Minor League baseball team, The Omaha Royals.

The River City Lancers, of the United States Hockey League, play at the Mid-America Center in nearby Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Cheer for the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Division 1 hockey program, the UNO Mavericks.

Creighton Basketball packs the Qwest Center as the Jays turn up the heat on their opponents. Enjoy the festive atmosphere of the NCAA Men’s College World Series every June!

Follow the University of Nebraska Huskers in football, volleyball, baseball and more.

Parks & Recreation

Lauritzen Garden
Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha’s botanical center is a unique public-private partnership with over 100 acres of land.
Heartland of America Park & Fountain
Heartland of America Park & Fountain, located in downtown Omaha, is home to gardens, lake trails, gondola rides and a spectacular 300 foot water jet and light show.
City of Omaha
From skateboarding to pools, gardens and more the City of Omaha has more than 200 local parks and recreational areas. The city of Omaha boasts forty-two public and private golf courses and two driving ranges.
Fontenelle Forest & Neale Woods Nature Centers Visitors can enjoy guided or solo hikes on 26 miles of trails through 2,000 acres of forest, prairie, and wetlands, as well as a boardwalk, many nature programs, day camps, exhibits, and live animal displays.
For walkers, birders and bikers, the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge connects over 100 miles of nature trails along the Missouri River. The Keystone Trail meanders along 27 miles of the Papio Creek and Omaha's three lakes offer fishing, boating and recreational activities all year long. In addition, discover one of the best tennis complexes in the country, indoor ice rinks and a 14,000 square feet Skateboarding park.

Shopping

Old Market
The Old Market was once a collection of factories and shops and is now one of Omaha’s most popular tourist attractions and place to live. The Old Market offers boutiques, specialty shops, book and antique stores, coffee houses, breweries, taverns, art galleries, nightclubs, bakeries and over 30 area restaurants.
Village Point
Village Pointe offers a multitude of stores, restaurants, a comedy club, and a movie theater, all on beautiful flower-lined streets.

Shadow Lake Towne Center is an outdoor mall located in Papillion just south of Omaha.

Regency Court offers a selection of classy vendors and is home to America’s largest independent jewelry store, Borsheims.

One Pacific Place offers a unique selection of retailers and dining.

Nebraska Furniture Mart is the world’s largest furniture store.

Crossroads, Westroads,and Oakview malls offer traditional mall shopping with a variety of specialty and department stores.

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Interesting Bits

For over 50 years the Men’s College World Series has been hosted in Omaha.

Famous Omaha residents include Fred Astaire, President Ford, Andy Roddick, Malcolm X, film producer Alexander Payne, actor Chris Klein, punk rock band 311, all-girl band Mulberry Lane and indie rock band Bright Eyes.

Every year, Omaha celebrates the Light Festival arrival of the holiday season by decorating the Old Market with over one million twinkling lights.

In Omaha, you can find the world’s largest tropical rainforest, indoor that is, at the Henry Doorly Zoo’s Lied Jungle.

PGA legend Arnold Palmer chose Omaha as the location for his 27-hole private golf course- Players Club at Deer Creek.

The Golf Channel comes to town every year for Omaha’s Cox Classic, a Nationwide Tour event, boasts some of the best up-and-coming professional golfers as well as many known former PGA Tour players.

In 2008, Omaha hosted the Olympic swimming trials, where Michael Phelps qualified and subsequently went on to set the record for the most gold medals at the Beijing Games.

In 2008, Omaha ranked 8th among the “Best Places to Live for Affordable Housing.” (CNNMoney.com)

Omaha was distinguished as 8th for the “Best Cities for Jobs in 2008” by Forbes.

While Omaha is known for its quality-cut steaks, the city is home to over 2,000 local and chain restaurants. Omaha boasts a variety of ethnic dining options from Thai, Indian, Greek, Italian, French to Japanese, Persian, Cuban and more!

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Rankings

CNN Money

  • Omaha ranked 8th among the “Best Places to Live for Affordable Housing” in 2008

Places Rated Almanac

  • Placed Omaha in top 12 percent of overall best places to live

Forbes

  • Named Omaha as one of top 15 regions in the nation
  • Named Omaha as the 11th best city for business and careers

Parenting magazine

  • Ranked Omaha in top 10 best cities for raising a family

Child Magazine

  • Found Omaha to be one of the 15 top cities for families

Morgan Quitno Press

  • Ranked Nebraska’s public school students as 13th smartest in the nation
  • Ranked Nebraska as 9th most livable state

ReadyMade magazine

  • Featured Omaha as one of its “5 places to visit now”

Simon Cowell, American Idol Judge

  • “I absolutely loved Omaha,” Cowell said after visiting in October 2007 as part of American Idol’s national contestant search. He also praised Omaha residents for their hospitality, “Some of the nicest people we’ve met, incredibly welcoming.”

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Local News and Publications

Television Stations

Print Media

Local Magazines

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Facts and Stats

Population

Within the Omaha city limits there are 419,545 residents. In the greater surrounding metro area 832,757 people live and work. The population density is 3,625 people per square mile.

Housing

Omaha has a thriving real estate market that remains strong despite the national housing crisis. Select from historic, modern, Tudor, contemporary, Ranch, two-story, townhomes or condo homes. The city offers attractive options for any lifestyle or any stage of life. It’s wonderful to have so many options.

Omaha is home to many historic neighborhoods including Dundee, where billionaire Warren Buffett lives in a relatively modest home and the Gold Coast neighborhood. Go west and find vast developments of new homes ranging from $130,000 split-levels to multi-million-dollar mansions. For a truly rural edge, Sarpy, Washington and western Douglas counties offer acreages complete with stables, streams, ponds and natural woods – still within minutes of the city.

Transportation

Omaha’s average one-way commute time is 20 minutes. Eighty-one percent of commuters drive their own car, while 11 percent elect to carpool. Three percent of Omaha residents work from their homes and 2 percent take mass transit to get where they are going.

Climate

Omaha experiences all four seasons. As a region with a continental climate, summers are typically warm, while winters are dry. On average, Omaha enjoys 214 sunny days per year and experiences 78 days per year with precipitation with about 32 inches of rain per year and 31 inches of snow per year. The warmest month is July with average highs of 88 degrees. And the coldest month is January with average lows of 12 degrees.

Omaha’s Education

Omaha Public Schools have a lower than national average student-to-teacher ratio. Multiple metro area school districts exist in cooperation with the area’s private, parochial, faith-based and non-traditional schools. The Nebraska graduation rate is over 90 percent, and ranks fourth highest in the nation. Statewide ACT and SAT scores consistently range among the best in the nation.

In post-secondary education, 56 percent of Omaha’s population over 25 years-old have bachelor’s degrees or higher. Omaha’s metropolitan statistical area has more than a dozen universities and community colleges.

Economy

Future job growth predicted at 9.3 percent higher than national average. Unemployment rate is 3.8 percent lower than national average

Taxes

The sales tax in Omaha is 7 percent. Most grocery items are not taxed. The income tax is 6.68 percent and the median household income is $44,726. Property taxes are about .68% higher than the national average.

Religion

Over half of the residents of Omaha identify themselves as religious.

  • 42.05 percent of various Christian faiths
  • 27.72 percent Catholic
  • 1.37 percent Jewish
  • 1.06 percent Latter Day Saints
  • 0.35 percent Islam
  • 0.03 percent of Eastern Religions

Air Travel

Eppley Airfield, located five minutes from downtown Omaha, provides air travel from 11 major and 3 regional air carriers, including two commuter airlines. Due to Omaha’s central location, either coast is only a few short hours away. Non-stop flights are available to many major U.S. cities.

Interstate / Train Travel

Omaha is less than a day’s drive to several major U.S. cities. Interstate 80 links Omaha to both the east and west coast. Interstate 29 runs north and south just outside of Omaha. Amtrak also provides rail service for coast-to-coast travel.

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