Imperial, Nebraska.
Typical home $235,653 (+9.2% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$623 (+101%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $19,951 +9%
- $215,702$235,653 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $39,469 +20%
- $196,184$235,653 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Imperial$1,237
- Nebraska$1,461
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 19 years.
Typical home values in Imperial, NE rose 9.2% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Imperial, Chase County, Nebraska
Imperial is a city of 2,068 people in Chase County. Half its households earn more than $74,176 a year and half less, against $68,173 across Chase County; 7% of its people live below the poverty line. 85% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 15% are rented. Unemployment in Chase County was 3.0% in August 2026, and the county had 2.3% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then farming.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Imperial is a small city in Chase County, Nebraska, and most homes here are lived in by their owners. Household incomes run higher than across the county, and fewer people live below the poverty line than in many places. Winters are cold and snowy, summers turn hot, and moisture falls steadily through the year.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with farming and mining, shops and the building trades close behind. Among the largest workplaces in Imperial are Chase County Schools, Chase County Community Hospital and Frenchman Valley Produce, a potato farming and seed potato operation. Across the county there are somewhat fewer jobs than a year ago, and unemployment has edged up over the past year.
Things to do. Enders Reservoir State Recreation Area, a protected area, is a short drive away and is the nearest place on the list for getting outdoors. Grant City Park is a longer drive away, and makes a quieter option for a day out.
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- 861households
- 25%of adults have a degree
- 7%below the poverty line
- 9%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Chase County had 1,738 jobs in 2025, 2.3% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 42° and lows near 12°; warmest in July, with highs near 91° and lows near 60°. About 26 inches of snow and 20 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Imperial weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Imperial
- Chase County SchoolsSchool district103FTE
- Chase County Community HospitalCritical access hospital68FTE
- Imperial Manor Parkview HeightsSkilled nursing facilities60
- Frenchman Valley ProducePotato farming, field and seed potato production49
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 2 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 109 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- HailVery high
- Strong windVery high
- LightningVery high
- Cold wavesVery high
- Winter weatherVery high
- TornadoesVery high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Imperial’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Chase County.
Imperial home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Imperial$235,653
- Nebraska$278,299
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Imperial listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Imperial22.82%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Imperial23
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Imperial5
Zip codes with a Imperial address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Imperial — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.