ABSTRACT
Like that of the rest of the Midwest, Nebraska’s economic health is heavily dependent on agriculture, but much of that dependence is indirect. The income of the state and of individual counties reflects the proportion of the population that is in the labor force and the wages and salaries received by workers. More important to Nebraska in total value is the oil and gas industry. Early manufacturing in Nebraska relied on local resources and local energy. Improved transportation led to major changes in the structure and pattern of manufacturing in Nebraska after the Civil War. Both the agricultural and manufacturing components of Nebraska’s economy rely on the state’s transportation and utilities distribution systems. The movement of raw materials to manufacturers and of inputs to farms takes place over a complex network of roads, rails, and water. Electricity in Nebraska is generated, transmitted, and distributed solely by publicly owned utilities.
