Nebraska energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in Nebraska

The current industrial power rate in Nebraska is 9.25 cents per kWh (May 2026, EIA), ranking 28 of 51 states and sitting 6.2% above the national average.

Current prices in Nebraska

  • Industrial electricity: 9.25 cents per kWh (May 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Nebraska typically pays: 8.36 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 4.41 per Mcf (May 2026), 3.3% above the national average.
  • Just below Nebraska on the price ladder: Wisconsin at 9, Indiana at 9.08, Wyoming at 9.12 cents. Just above: Michigan at 9.43, Colorado at 9.47, West Virginia at 9.48 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 3,700 in electricity at Nebraska rates versus 3,484 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 18,500 versus 17,420, and at 200 kW it is 74,000 versus 69,680.
  • Nebraska sits mid-pack for power cost, so energy is neither a site-selection advantage nor a penalty. Estimates built on national averages will land close here, though demand charges and rate schedules still swing the real bill.

What factory labor pays in Nebraska

  • Industrial production managers: $51.54/hr median in Nebraska versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $47.20/hr median in Nebraska versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $34.71/hr median in Nebraska versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $33.24/hr median in Nebraska versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $30.82/hr median in Nebraska versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $26.86/hr median in Nebraska versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Nebraska employs about 98,000 manufacturing workers as of Jun 2026 (BLS).

Manufacturing base in Nebraska

  • Nebraska has 1,761 manufacturing establishments employing about 104,418 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: food manufacturing (309), fabricated metal products (279), machinery manufacturing (186), printing and related support (145), chemical manufacturing (107).

Sources and update cadence

  • Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and refresh automatically when the agency publishes; this page also archives each month's Nebraska observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.