Great Plains Studies, Center for


Date of this Version

Fall 2011


Great Plains Research 21 (Fall 2011):191-201


© 2011 Copyright by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska - Lincoln


This article addresses a current gap in the inequality literature by identifying demographic and economic factors that best explain persistent income inequality across N = 817 non metropolitan block groups in Nebraska between 1979 and 2009. Over one-half of rural places in Nebraska have average levels of income inequality, one-quarter have persistently low inequality, and one-fifth of places have persistently high levels of income inequality. Results of multinomial logistic regression suggest that persistently high-inequality places in rural Nebraska tend to be smaller, more urbanized, more ethnically diverse, more wealthy, more specialized in high-skill and low-skill industries, and have experienced fast growth in urbanization, incomes, and professional services. By contrast, low-inequality places tend to be larger, less urban, less diverse, less well educated, less wealthy, less engaged in the labor force, and have experienced population declines and slower growth in urbanization, educational attainment, and incomes.