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Affordable housing needed to make rural communities successfulAffordable housing needed to make rural communities successful

Gen Z Aggie: For many 20-somethings who want to move back to their rural hometowns to live and work, finding affordable housing can be challenging.

Elizabeth Hodges, Staff Writer

January 21, 2025

4 Min Read
Main street in town
HOME SWEET HOME: Now that I have graduated college, I have a strong desire to return to my roots in rural southeast Nebraska. However, with the safe and affordable housing shortages in many farm and ranch communities across the country, it proves to be a challenge. MichaelWarrenPix/Getty Images

I am quickly realizing that your 20s are an exciting but also challenging time. I open any form of social media, and everyone is starting their careers, getting engaged or traveling across the country. Me? Well, I am currently just trying to find a place to live back in my rural community.

Living in Lincoln the past four and a half years while going to college has given me a luxury that I did not know I had — safe and somewhat affordable housing. In my last semester of college, I took a campaigns class where we created a campaign for Rural Prosperity Nebraska and the Rural Fellows internship program. We talked to current students, small-town community members and Extension professionals across the state to draw from their personal testimonies of rural living.

From this class I realized that I really do miss living in a small town and being connected to everyone in the community. So, like any Gen Z person, I headed to Facebook Marketplace and started looking at places to rent.

After scouring the internet for potential places to live, I realized that anything that was for rent was way out of my price range or not kept up very well. When talking to others about my struggles, I was offered advice to just live with my parents until I am ready to buy a house. Although I would be saving quite a bit of money and I love my parents very much, my independence is something that I do not want to give up.

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How can I afford to live in rural areas?

Once I talked to my friends who also have recently graduated college, I realized I was not alone in this struggle. Many want to move to a rural area, but finding housing can be a challenge, so they stay in the metro areas.

According to the 2024 Nebraska Rural Poll, 90% of rural Nebraskans surveyed agreed that high-quality, affordable housing is essential for rural community growth. Although I can work in my role here at Farm Progress remotely, this poll also showed that these community members believe that the lack of rural housing has a negative impact on the worker shortage.

The poll also revealed that 60% of respondents believe that there are not enough homes available for rent in their rural area. After doing some deep dives into research into the rural housing crisis, this is a problem that affects almost all farming areas. Many communities realize this problem and, when trying to remedy the situation, they realize that a large economic barrier is standing in the way.

Elizabeth Hodges -  Julian Nebraska

Recently I have brought my co-worker and editor of Dakota Farmer, Sarah McNaughton-Peterson, in on my home-hunting struggles. Although she just recently purchased a house, she recognizes that it is not as easy to buy a house as it was for our parents.

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Data shows that housing prices have increased almost 5% in the past year and only stand to increase more in the years to follow.

Although this seems like a bleak situation for young adults in their 20s trying to establish themselves in a rural community, there could be hope for us.

Start with the community

In Nebraska, the Rural Workforce Housing Fund was created to provide relief to these economic barriers of housing to rural areas. To qualify to gain money from this fund, communities must be located in a county of less than 100,000 people. For Nebraska, this excludes Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy counties.

To learn more about this program, visit the Nebraska Department of Economic Development website at opportunity.nebraska.gov/programs/housing/rwhf.

Although this opportunity is for Nebraska only, there are other states that have similar programs addressing the same issue.

Policy developers and rural leaders are starting to realize the rural housing crisis and focusing their efforts on revitalizing rural communities, which are the backbone of many states. While young adults looking for housing right now might be struggling, the future of rural communities looks bright. In my opinion, it all starts with providing safe and affordable housing for young people.

If you’re interested in learning more about the opportunities in rural housing, be sure to look out for another article coming soon.

About the Author

Elizabeth Hodges

Staff Writer, Farm Progress

Growing up on a third-generation purebred Berkshire hog operation, Elizabeth Hodges of Julian, Neb., credits her farm background for showing her what it takes to be involved in the ag industry. She began her journalism career in high school, reporting on producer progress for the Midwest Messenger newspaper.

While a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she became a Husker Harvest Days intern at Nebraska Farmer in 2022. The next year, she was hired full-time as a staff writer for Farm Progress. Elizabeth graduated from UNL in 2024 with a double major in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Communication and Animal Science.
Hodges’ father, Michael, raises purebred Berkshire hogs, and her mother, Christy, is an ag education teacher and FFA advisor at Johnson County Central. Hodges is the oldest sibling of four.

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