Most fast-growing Nebraska cities are near Lincoln or Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Most of the fastest growing cities in Nebraska are located near the state’s biggest cities of Lincoln and Omaha.

U.S. Census estimates released Thursday show that the town of Hickman just south of Lincoln had the fastest growth rate between 2010 and 2016 at 29 percent. Hickman had 2,109 residents last July.

The growth in Hickman has been fueled by people who work in Lincoln but want to live in a small town, and that trend has been helped by low gas prices over the last few years, said David Drozd, research coordinator for the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

The next biggest population gain in the state was recorded in the Omaha suburb of Ralston, which grew 23 percent to 7,329.

The state’s largest city of Omaha grew 9.3 percent to 446,970 between 2010 and 2016. Lincoln grew 8.5 percent to 280,364.

Kearney is the only fast-growing city in the state that isn’t near Lincoln or Omaha. Kearney grew 8.9 percent to 33,520.

Nebraska’s population grew 4.4 percent to top 1.9 million last year for the first time. Here are some highlights of other large cities in the state:

- Grand Island grew 6.2 percent to reach 51,517.

- Hastings added 84 residents to grow 0.3 percent and reach 24,991.

- Norfolk had 24,348 residents after growing 0.6 percent.

- Scottsbluff lost 1 percent of its population but still had 14,883 residents.