The Nebraska Rural Poll is an annual survey conducted by the Center for Applied Rural Innovation in partnership with the UNL Department of Agricultural Economics and the NU Rural Initiative.

Traditionally, rural Nebraskans have not had a strong voice in state policy decisions. The Nebraska Rural Poll gathers the aggregated voice of rural Nebraskans and relays its findings to state lawmakers, ensuring the rural voice is heard. The goal of the Nebraska Rural Poll is to give local and state leaders a better understanding of the issues, challenges and concerns of Nebraska's rural citizens. The Rural Poll is an annual effort that focuses on such issues as community, government policy, well-being and work.scenic picture

Core questions are included every year; over time these core questions will provide insight about trends and changes occurring in rural Nebraska. In addition, each year rural citizens and government officials form an advisory committee that identifies key issues or topics to include in the survey. Poll findings are distributed to member of the Nebraska Legislature, staff members of the state's congressional delegation, and other state and local leaders to facilitate their decision making.

For further information about the Poll or its findings, contact: Becky Vogt, Randy Cantrell, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel, or Brad Lubben.




2012 Nebraska Rural Poll

The 17th annual Nebraska Rural Poll was mailed out to 7,000 randomly selected households located in nonmetropolitan counties in March of 2012. This year's questionnaire asked rural Nebraskans about churches, resources and businesses in their community as well as the core questions on well-being and community.

Click here to take the 2012 Rural Poll online. This link is only for those persons who received a letter in the mail.