A local guide to Nebraska’s fastest-growing city: what’s being built, what it costs, and the trade-offs nobody puts on the brochure.
For years, most people knew Gretna as the exit for the outlet mall.
You drove out I-80, shopped Nebraska Crossing, maybe stopped at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch in October, and went home to Omaha.
That version of Gretna is gone.
The 2020 Census counted 5,083 people in Gretna. Current Census estimates put the city at roughly 9,100. Mayor Mike Evans has said the greater Gretna area, counting the neighborhoods around town, is probably closer to 25,000, and he expects the city could reach 50,000 to 60,000 within the next decade.
That’s a projection, not a promise. But the construction happening right now tells you which direction things are headed.
Here’s what’s going on, and what it means if you’re thinking about buying there.
1. Gretna Has Been Nebraska’s Fastest-Growing City for Two Decades
This isn’t a recent spike. Gretna’s population has roughly tripled since 2000, which puts it at the top of Nebraska’s growth list over that stretch. It started as a Burlington railroad stop in 1886 and was named after Gretna Green in Scotland, where some of the first settlers came from. The red brick streets downtown have been there more than 100 years.
What changed is location. Sarpy County is the fastest-growing county in the state, and Gretna sits right where Omaha’s western growth meets the I-80 corridor toward Lincoln. When West Omaha and Papillion filled in, builders kept moving west and south. Gretna was next in line.
2. Nebraska’s First Buc-ee’s Is Coming
This is the headline most people have heard.
In May 2026, the Gretna City Council approved the zoning and permits for Nebraska’s first Buc-ee’s. It’s planned near Nebraska Crossing, just off I-80 and east of Highway 31. City officials expect construction to wrap up in late 2028.
The land has some history. It was the Gillespie family homestead, settled in the late 1890s.
Whether you love Buc-ee’s or think it’s an overgrown gas station, a national chain choosing Gretna for its first Nebraska location says a lot about where traffic and population are headed.
If you’re looking at homes near Highway 31 and I-80, it’s also worth asking how that traffic will affect your daily drive once it opens.
3. A Shopping Center Bigger Than Nebraska Crossing Just Broke Ground
The Buc-ee’s news got the attention. This one may matter more to people who actually live there.
In May 2026, ground broke on the Gretna Crossing Shopping Center at 192nd Street and Highway 370. The plan calls for 500,000 square feet of retail and restaurants on 70 acres.
For scale, that’s about 100,000 square feet larger than Nebraska Crossing. The developer, The Lerner Company, said the last project of this size in the area was Shadow Lake in Papillion back in 2007.
Today, a lot of Gretna residents drive to Papillion or West Omaha for everyday shopping and dining. Over the next few years, more of that will be close to home.
4. Healthcare and Mixed-Use Development Are Moving In
Omaha-based Noddle Companies is developing a 31-acre mixed-use project anchored by a Nebraska Medicine health center, with housing, office, retail and entertainment space planned. The project is estimated at about $200 million and is part of a larger 132-acre development.
Having a major health system set up locally is one of the clearer signs that Gretna is being treated as its own community rather than a bedroom town on the interstate.
5. The Schools Have Been Building to Keep Up
Gretna Public Schools now has eight elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools.
The second high school, Gretna East, opened in fall 2023 off 180th Street between Cornhusker Road and Highway 370. It was paid for through a bond voters approved in 2020. Before it opened, the original Gretna High had about 1,750 students in a building designed for 1,600.
Some homes with Gretna addresses fall into other districts, including Millard. If a specific school matters to you, check the attendance boundary for the exact property before you write an offer. Don’t rely on the city name or the listing description.
6. Gretna Crossing Park Is the Town’s Backyard
In 2023, Gretna opened Gretna Crossing Park, a roughly 150-acre, $60 million park that has become the center of community life.
It includes:
- A full-service YMCA with an indoor competition pool shared with Gretna’s high school swim teams
- An outdoor water park with a lazy river and water slide
- A stocked fishing pond
- Baseball and softball fields
- A disc golf course, picnic shelters and an outdoor amphitheater
The city has also planned a community center with a library on land near Highway 6, across from the park.
Beyond town limits, you’re close to Mahoney State Park and its 690 acres, the Wildlife Safari Park, Schramm Park and the Platte River. Vala’s Pumpkin Patch is just outside town too.
7. The Part Most Gretna Articles Skip: Taxes and SIDs
Here’s where I’d slow down before falling in love with a new build.
Nebraska already has some of the highest property taxes in the country. The statewide effective rate is around 1.7%, and Sarpy County runs close to that. Sarpy’s median tax bill is a little over $5,000 a year.
Gretna adds two more things to watch.
The school bond levy. All that school construction costs money. Nebraska Department of Revenue figures show Gretna’s school bond levy is the third highest in the state, behind only Bennington and Elkhorn. Those are all fast-growing districts paying for new buildings.
SIDs. Many newer subdivisions around Gretna sit inside a Sanitary and Improvement District. An SID is how Nebraska developers finance streets, sewer and water lines in new neighborhoods outside city limits. Homeowners pay that back through an extra levy on their tax bill until the debt is paid off or the city annexes the neighborhood.
Two houses at the same price, a mile apart, can have tax bills that are hundreds or even thousands of dollars different. On a new build, the listing may show a tax figure based on the empty lot, which tells you almost nothing about what you’ll pay once the house is assessed.
Before you compare monthly payments on two Gretna homes, get the real tax picture on both.
8. Growth Comes With Growing Pains
Being honest about this is part of the job.
If you move to Gretna in the next few years, expect:
- Road construction, especially along Highway 370, Highway 6 and the 180th Street area
- More traffic near I-80 once the new retail and Buc-ee’s open
- Fields that are corn today becoming rooftops next year, including the view behind your house
- A school district that may keep asking voters for bond money
One Gretna resident whose family owned the Buc-ee’s land told WOWT he expects Gretna and nearby small towns won’t stay small much longer, and he’s comfortable with that.
If what you want is the small town of 15 years ago, Gretna has already changed. If you want newer homes, amenities on the way, and access to both Omaha and Lincoln, it’s worth a serious look.
9. What You’ll Pay to Live There
Census data puts Gretna’s median home value around $326,000 and the median household income near $118,800. Keep in mind those Census figures lag the market by a couple of years.
A lot of today’s Gretna inventory is new construction, so asking prices on newer homes often run well above that median. For context, Redfin reported the Omaha-area median sale price at about $320,600 earlier this year, up 5.3% from 2025.
New subdivisions like Harvest Creek, Highland Trails, Lincoln Ridge and Aspen Creek North give you a sense of where building is concentrated right now.
So, Is Gretna Worth a Look?
Gretna offers a combination that’s getting harder to find in the Omaha metro:
- Newer housing stock
- Major retail, healthcare and a Buc-ee’s on the way
- A large park system and quick access to state parks
- I-80 access to both Omaha and Lincoln
The trade-off is cost beyond the price tag. Bond levies, SIDs and years of construction are real.
The buyers who do well in Gretna are the ones who know the full monthly cost before they sign.
Thinking About Buying in Gretna?
I grew up in Nebraska and lived there about 50 years before moving to Tennessee, and I still work the Omaha market every day.
Online listings can tell you the asking price. They won’t tell you which subdivision has an SID with years of debt left, what the taxes will look like once a new build is fully assessed, or how two similar homes compare once you add everything up.
Because I’m both a REALTOR and a mortgage loan originator, I can walk you through the house and the real monthly payment in the same conversation.
If Gretna is on your list, call or text me at 402-578-5274 and let’s figure out whether it belongs there.
Kari Witt, REALTOR and Mortgage Loan Originator, NMLS #2265501. Backyards to Barns, We’ve Got You Covered.