Nebraska

Occupied by Native American tribes for hundreds of years, in the early 19th century white settlers began moving to the region that in 1854 became the Nebraska Territory. Nebraska later gained statehood in 1867. The state has a population of 1,783,432 (2008 estimate), of whom 50.4 percent are female, which is slightly lower than the national average of 50.7 percent. Nebraska has a high birth rate of 15.1 (only 11 states have a higher rate), and a fertility rate of 2.29 children per woman (only seven states having a higher rate). There are, on average, 2.5 people per household in the state, as opposed to 2.6 people per household across the whole of the United States.

In Nebraska, 8.4 percent of households included a single parent ...