Omaha / Chadron
Chadron has 5,160 residents (give or take 16) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,322 people per square mile.
Chadron is about 372 miles from the Census center point for Omaha in a straight line and covers 3.902 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 2,097 occupied homes in Chadron, 58% heat with natural gas, 2% with heating oil, 32% with electricity and 8% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 58% of Chadron against electricity at 32%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
Chadron has about the Dawes County oil share of 2% and 1 points more electric heat than the county's 31% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US31045, checked 2026-10-19).
Chadron has 2,456 housing units, 36% built before 1940 and 82% before 1980, with 5% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19).
Chadron has 4 points more pre-1940 homes than Dawes County as a whole (32%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US31045, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Chadron home was built in 1953 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.4 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19).
73% of Chadron homes are single-family detached, 14% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 8% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19).
With 73% detached houses and 14% in small multi-family buildings, a Chadron quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 44% of Chadron homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
44% of Chadron homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19), so the market splits between resident-led jobs where the occupant picks the system and landlord-led jobs where they do not, and the rebate paperwork differs.
36% of Chadron homes were built before 1940 and 82% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19), so insulation is the first sizing question: an older home leaks more heat per square foot, and the installer runs a room-by-room heat-loss calculation to size the system for what the walls and windows actually hold in, not just the floor plan.
No electric utility is on file for Chadron on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Median household income in Chadron is $54,590 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US3108605, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
Heating design temperature: -5F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Dawes County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 76 to 80 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That -5F figure is the Dawes County cold-day number a Chadron heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -5F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 58% of Chadron on gas and 32% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Chadron house from before 1940 (36% of the 2,456 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Chadron. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Chadron yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.