Economic Impact
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Integral Part of Nebraska's Success
As Nebraska’s only public academic health sciences center, UNMC is a major economic engine for the state of Nebraska. Nearly half of Nebraska’s physicians, dental professionals, bachelor-prepared nurses, and allied health professionals have graduated from UNMC.
UNMC/Nebraska Medicine and affiliates are an integral piece of the state's economic success and their operations directly or indirectly impact many residents of Nebraska every day — either through operational spending, research, or provision of clinical care.
UNMC/Nebraska Medicine and affiliates grow Nebraska business volume in two ways:
- Direct expenditures for goods and services by UNMC, employees, students, out-of-state patients, and visitors. This spending supports local businesses, which in turn employ local individuals to sell the goods and provide the services that UNMC/Nebraska Medicine and their affiliates need.
- Indirect spending within Nebraska. The businesses and individuals that receive direct payments from UNMC/Nebraska Medicine and their affiliates respend this money within Nebraska, thus creating the need for even more jobs.
The University of Nebraska commissioned an independent third-party economic impact study to quantify the overall impact of all University operations and Nebraska Medicine have on the Nebraska economy in terms of its operations, jobs, and government revenue impact.
The overall economic impact of UNMC/Nebraska Medicine and affiliates in Nebraska in 2024 was $7.9 billion. This is an annual economic impact generated within the Nebraska economy.
In addition to its direct employees, UNMC/Nebraska Medicine and affiliates also support thousand of jobs statewide in many sectors of the Nebraska economy such as construction, business and professional services, restaurants and hotels, information technology, security, and temporary employment companies. These indirect jobs support Nebraska residents who are employed directly by UNMC. The impact of UNMC to other sectors of the economy including the health care sector (hospitals and physician and dental offices), nursing and residential care facilities, real estate establishments and non residential commercial construction, restaurants, retail, and wholesale trade businesses is significant.
UNMC/Nebraska Medicine and their affiliates’ spending within the State of Nebraska generates government revenue ($273 million) in the form of sales tax, corporate net income tax, and other business taxes paid by the companies receiving revenue from UNMC/Nebraska Medicine.
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Read the Report
UNMC and primary clinical partner Nebraska Medicine had a combined economic impact of $7.7 billion in 2024, a 16.9% increase since 2021, according to a report by Tripp Umbach, a national consultant with expertise in economic impact studies.
Game Changers
- Kearney health sciences expansion: By 2030, the Douglas A. Kristensen Rural Health Education Complex will serve more than 750 UNMC students, boosting our impact on the central and western Nebraska health care workforce.
- Center for Heart & Vascular Research: With an $11.8 million grant, UNMC is creating a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence focused on finding answers to heart and vascular diseases.
- Global Center for Health Security: Established in 2017, the center provides a platform for health system preparedness, recognition and response to catastrophic public health emergencies while providing comprehensive capabilities in research, education and training, and health system operations.