Garrett wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 1:01 pm
Bulk of the growth for the metro continues to be in Douglas and Sarpy counties. Exciting to see them break 600k and 200k respectively though!
Garrett wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 1:01 pm
Bulk of the growth for the metro continues to be in Douglas and Sarpy counties. Exciting to see them break 600k and 200k respectively though!
Garrett wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 1:01 pm
Bulk of the growth for the metro continues to be in Douglas and Sarpy counties. Exciting to see them break 600k and 200k respectively though!
I know it is frowned upon to celebrate these milestones.
In the face of uniformity, I say, "heck yeah! We made it, ladies and gentlemen. "
Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I thought this was a milestone for only the lucky and special. One that we would be deprived of for centuries. I never thought we would see the day. Even in the 2000s, it felt that such a milestone could be out of reach as we were still so far away, and momentum has a way of shifting. It never did.
MadJack wrote: Mon Mar 17, 2025 9:57 pm
For anyone who wants to get a little nerdy over Omaha's new status as a million-person metro, Grow Omaha just published an analysis article:
Biggest news is that Lincoln has crossed 300,000 people to 300,619. Omaha up to 489,265, an increase of 2,485 and now ranked #41 in the country as Raleigh and Colorado Springs have grown faster since 2020.
Again, feel like a broken record, but they are always underestimating Omaha each year. The est for 2023 was 486,051 but now they have updated that to show 486,780. I also highly doubt that that the city is lower now than 2020. It wouldn't surprise me if it was over 500,000 now.
Yeah, with Douglas County hitting 601,158 in this round of estimates it's hard to believe there are 120k people living outside of Omaha.
Edit: Looks like the last substantial annexation Omaha had was in 2020 when a package added a little over 2,000 people. I could see some degree of stagnation compared to the 2010s when Omaha was consistently annexing 5,000+ population areas every year.
Garrett wrote: Thu May 15, 2025 2:34 pm
Yeah, with Douglas County hitting 601,158 in this round of estimates it's hard to believe there are 120k people living outside of Omaha.
Edit: Looks like the last substantial annexation Omaha had was in 2020 when a package added a little over 2,000 people. I could see some degree of stagnation compared to the 2010s when Omaha was consistently annexing 5,000+ population areas every year.
It wouldn't surprise me if Omaha is at, or higher, than 500,000 IRL. The propensity to underestimate the growth in the city limits is real. Happens every time.
That said, the annexation packages this decade are the smallest, by far, that I can remember. We hadnt had a proper infusion of new souls since the 2010s. 2023 was skipped altogether.
In the 2000s, Unincorporated Douglas County had around 40,000 people. It is now around 110,000.
Gobears27 wrote: Thu May 15, 2025 6:03 pm
Is it time to Annex Bennington or Ralston?
Ralston has the handshake agreement with Omaha, so that will never happen. Even then, Ralston kinda seems intent on taking on debt so that they don't look too attractive to annex.
Bennington is no threat of growing over 10,000 people anytime soon, and hasn't really ever pursued any significant annexation packages. They might be content with having a similar agreement with Omaha after what happened with Elkhorn.
Gobears27 wrote: Thu May 15, 2025 6:03 pm
Is it time to Annex Bennington or Ralston?
Ralston has the handshake agreement with Omaha, so that will never happen. Even then, Ralston kinda seems intent on taking on debt so that they don't look too attractive to annex.
Bennington is no threat of growing over 10,000 people anytime soon, and hasn't really ever pursued any significant annexation packages. They might be content with having a similar agreement with Omaha after what happened with Elkhorn.
Bennington’s city limits are pretty small, it doesn’t even include nearby high end Bennington lake. My guess they will stay that way so they won’t get annexed. Elkhorn should have done that as well.
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