Lincoln, NE
Modelled metroCost of living in Lincoln: $2,541 leftover
Cost of living in Lincoln, as leftover, is $2,541 a month for one adult, renting a 1-bedroom on local pay — take-home after tax minus rent of $993 and the rest of the modelled month. A price index would say non-housing costs run 13% below the US average. Nebraska taxes wage income on a bracket schedule. Lincoln is a modelled metro: rent, wages and prices come from Zillow, Census and BEA, not a hand-written city essay.
These figures start from one adult in a one-bedroom, on local pay of about $98,500. Change the job, the pay, or how many bedrooms you need, and leftover changes. This is a monthly budget, not a cost-of-living index.
The month, in dollars
Take-home is $5,300 after tax. These lines are the modelled bills, then what is left. The monthly costs page is the same household inside the city hub.
| Rent | $993 |
|---|---|
| Groceries | $349 |
| Transport | $500 |
| Healthcare | $393 |
| Utilities | $218 |
| Childcare | $0 |
| Everything else | $306 |
| Total costs | $2,759 |
| Leftover | $2,541 |
Sales tax is about 7.0%. Property tax is modelled at 1.55% of a $257,500 median home. Non-housing lines scale a national baseline by this metro's cost index (0.87).
Asking rent by bedroom
Turnover asking rent in Lincoln, not the Census median of occupied stock. Rent versus buying.
Studio
$851
1 bedroom
$993
2 bedrooms
$1,182
3 bedrooms
$1,548
4 bedrooms
$1,832
Leftover in other metros nearby
Same household. Each leftover is take-home after that metro's tax minus its rent.
- Cost of living in Omaha$2,643 leftover
Lincoln vs Omaha · $1,089 rent
- Cost of living in Grand Island$2,485 leftover
Lincoln vs Grand Island · $1,082 rent
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. Change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms and the ranking is a different city. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Cost of living in Lincoln
What is the cost of living in Lincoln?
On the default one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover in Lincoln, NE is about $2,541 a month after tax and rent. Asking rent is about $993 for a one-bedroom and $1,182 for a two-bedroom. That is a budget, not a cost-of-living index.
How does Lincoln compare with a cost-of-living index?
A price index would say non-housing costs run 13% below the US average. Leftover still depends on your tax bill and bedroom count, which an index does not. Lincoln is a modelled metro: rent, wages and prices come from Zillow, Census and BEA, not a hand-written city essay.
Where is take-home pay in Lincoln calculated?
The take-home page for Lincoln splits federal, payroll, state and local wage tax, then subtracts rent. The city paycheck page is the same leftover math with the map.
Popular compares from Lincoln
Moving from Lincoln
Other Nebraska metros
Other metros in Nebraska, with leftover, rent, and day-to-day pages.