Omaha vs Waterloo

A side-by-side comparison of Omaha and Waterloo: population, income, housing, and more.

Omaha and Waterloo are places in Nebraska. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Omaha has the higher population (488,197 vs 950 in Waterloo). Waterloo has the higher median household income ($75,417 vs $72,708 in Omaha). Omaha has the higher median home value ($230,100 vs $218,400 in Waterloo).

Population, income & housing

	Omaha	Waterloo
Population	488,197	950
Median age	35.3 yrs	38.5 yrs
Median household income	$72,708	$75,417
Median home value	$230,100	$218,400
Median gross rent	$1,150	$1,125
Housing units	211,640	394
Homeownership rate	57.7%	77.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.3%	18.3%
Unemployment rate	4.2%	0.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Omaha	Waterloo
Population	475,862 → 488,197 (+2.6%)	966 → 950 (-1.7%)
Median household income	$60,092 → $72,708 (+21.0%)	$64,821 → $75,417 (+16.3%)
Median home value	$159,700 → $230,100 (+44.1%)	$143,200 → $218,400 (+52.5%)
Median gross rent	$923 → $1,150 (+24.6%)	$880 → $1,125 (+27.8%)

Omaha

Population

475,862488,197

Median household income

$60,092$72,708

Median home value

$159,700$230,100

Median gross rent

$923$1,150

Waterloo

Population

966950

Median household income

$64,821$75,417

Median home value

$143,200$218,400

Median gross rent

$880$1,125

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Omaha	Waterloo
Under 5	6.8%	2.6%
5 to 17	17.8%	20.3%
18 to 24	9.8%	3.1%
25 to 34	15.3%	13.3%
35 to 44	13.6%	16.2%
45 to 54	11.2%	11.8%
55 to 64	11.4%	16.4%
65 to 74	8.7%	13.1%
75 and over	5.4%	3.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Omaha	Waterloo
White (non-Hispanic)	64.2%	90.6%
Black or African American	11.5%	2.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.0%
Asian	4.0%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.2%	3.3%
Hispanic or Latino	15.6%	3.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Omaha	Waterloo
No high school diploma	9.5%	7.0%
High school graduate	21.3%	41.1%
Some college or associate's	29.0%	33.6%
Bachelor's degree	25.6%	12.1%
Graduate or professional degree	14.7%	6.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Omaha	Waterloo
Drove alone	73.3%	82.8%
Carpooled	8.7%	3.0%
Public transit	1.2%	0.0%
Walked	1.8%	2.1%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	13.6%	12.1%
Other means	1.3%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Omaha	Waterloo
1-unit, detached	63.1%	78.4%
1-unit, attached	3.8%	10.9%
2 to 4 units	3.6%	5.3%
5 to 19 units	15.1%	4.8%
20 or more units	13.5%	0.5%
Mobile home & other	0.8%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Omaha	Waterloo
Poverty rate	12.8%	6.4%
Average household size	2.39	2.42
Mean commute (minutes)	20	26
Median year structure built	1972	1986