Economy
Omaha’s labor market strengthened through Q3 2026, with nonfarm payroll employment reaching 525,500 jobs, an increase of 1.1% year-over-year (YOY). The unemployment rate eased to 2.9% from 3.1% a year earlier and remained well below the national rate of 4.2%. Omaha’s central location, strong rail and interstate connectivity, and expanding hyperscale data center presence continue to support demand from distribution, logistics and construction-related occupiers. Manufacturing remains the soft spot, as the closure of the Kellogg’s plant on F Street removed a long-tenured employer and brought one of the market’s largest manufacturing facilities to the market.
Market Overview
Omaha’s industrial market posted 1,502,678 square feet (sf) of net absorption in Q3 2026, lifting year-to-date (YTD) absorption to 2,963,838 sf. Data center deliveries drove the headline figure: Meta’s 1.4 million-sf (msf) Fairview Road expansion and Google’s 288,267-sf Blair High Road facility delivered fully occupied, contributing 1.7 msf. Excluding data centers, the market recorded 185,589 sf of negative absorption, as Kellogg’s 888,198-sf exit from 9601 F St pushed manufacturing to 876,402 sf of negative absorption. Warehouse/distribution added 692,088 sf, led by Amazon’s 286,000 sf at 15415 Sunburst Dr, Metropolitan Utilities District’s 140,000-sf construction center, Electron Systems & Software’s 121,680-sf move-in and K&M Tires’ 92,000-sf Council Bluffs facility, while non-data center flex shed 1,275 sf. Overall vacancy rose to 3.5% from 2.7%, with manufacturing at 7.9%, flex at 3.1% and warehouse/distribution at 2.1%. Leasing totaled 665,039 sf across 34 transactions, highlighted by Amazon’s 286,000-sf lease at 15415 Sunburst Dr, which is reflected in Q3 absorption.
Construction completions reached 2.4 msf in Q3 2026, bringing YTD deliveries to 2.9 msf. Data centers accounted for 1.7 msf, or 71%, of quarterly completions; the remaining 691,046 sf included 326,954 sf of build-to-suit (BTS) and 364,092 sf of speculative product, most notably the 286,000-sf R&R Commerce Park South Warehouse IV. With those deliveries, the under-construction pipeline fell to 1.9 msf from 3.8 msf last quarter. Warehouse/distribution accounts for 1.2 msf of the pipeline, data centers for 373,497 sf and non-data center flex for 314,855 sf. In standing inventory, 10.3 msf of the 26.0 msf flex base is fully occupied data center space, holding reported flex vacancy at 3.1% versus 5.1% excluding data centers. Sarpy West holds 1.4 msf, or 70%, of the pipeline, reinforcing its position as Omaha’s primary industrial growth corridor.
