Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Nebraska

Cities in Nebraska by population

Omaha, NE had the highest population of 16 cities in 2023, at 486,784. Lexington, NE had the lowest, at 11,007. The median was 24,914 and the figure for Nebraska was 1.99 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest486,784Omaha, NE
Lowest11,007Lexington, NE
Median24,91416 cities
Nebraska1,988,172History

All cities, 2023

Omaha, NE: 486,784 personsOmaha, NE486,784Lincoln, NE: 296,221 personsLincoln, NE296,221Bellevue, NE: 64,108 personsBellevue, NE64,108Grand Island, NE: 53,539 personsGrand Island, NE53,539Kearney, NE: 34,432 personsKearney, NE34,432Fremont, NE: 27,858 personsFremont, NE27,858Norfolk, NE: 26,320 personsNorfolk, NE26,320Papillion, NE: 24,921 personsPapillion, NE24,921Hastings, NE: 24,907 personsHastings, NE24,907Columbus, NE: 24,897 personsColumbus, NE24,897North Platte, NE: 22,592 personsNorth Platte, NE22,592La Vista, NE: 16,383 personsLa Vista, NE16,383Scottsbluff, NE: 14,329 personsScottsbluff, NE14,329South Sioux City, NE: 13,884 personsSouth Sioux City, NE13,884Beatrice, NE: 12,260 personsBeatrice, NE12,260Lexington, NE: 11,007 personsLexington, NE11,007Omaha, NE: 486,784 personsOmaha, NE486,784Lincoln, NE: 296,221 personsLincoln, NE296,221Bellevue, NE: 64,108 personsBellevue, NE64,108Grand Island, NE: 53,539 personsGrand Island, NE53,539Kearney, NE: 34,432 personsKearney, NE34,432Fremont, NE: 27,858 personsFremont, NE27,858Norfolk, NE: 26,320 personsNorfolk, NE26,320Papillion, NE: 24,921 personsPapillion, NE24,921Hastings, NE: 24,907 personsHastings, NE24,907Columbus, NE: 24,897 personsColumbus, NE24,897North Platte, NE: 22,592 personsNorth Platte, NE22,592La Vista, NE: 16,383 personsLa Vista, NE16,383Scottsbluff, NE: 14,329 personsScottsbluff, NE14,329South Sioux City, NE: 13,884 personsSouth Sioux City, NE13,884Beatrice, NE: 12,260 personsBeatrice, NE12,260Lexington, NE: 11,007 personsLexington, NE11,007
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2023
persons		Change on 2022
1Omaha, NE486,784-0%
2Lincoln, NE296,221+1%
3Bellevue, NE64,108+0.2%
4Grand Island, NE53,539+1.2%
5Kearney, NE34,432+0.4%
6Fremont, NE27,858+1.4%
7Norfolk, NE26,320+1.1%
8Papillion, NE24,921+0.1%
9Hastings, NE24,907-0.3%
10Columbus, NE24,897+2.1%
11North Platte, NE22,592-0.5%
12La Vista, NE16,383-0.1%
13Scottsbluff, NE14,329-0.3%
14South Sioux City, NE13,884+0.4%
15Beatrice, NE12,260+0.4%
16Lexington, NE11,007+1.6%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population.

More on how it is measured
  • Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón).
  • Norway: Statistics Norway, 1 January.
  • Iceland and its municipalities: Statistics Iceland, 1 January.
  • United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July.
  • United Kingdom regions and local authorities: Office for National Statistics estimates for 30 June.
  • Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
  • UN World Population Prospects estimates for 1 July cover the years before 1960 and the areas the World Bank does not publish, such as Taiwan.

The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2026). Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals) (Cities in Nebraska by population, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/

MLA 9

Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Nebraska by population, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/nebraska-cities?period=2023. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Cities in Nebraska by population, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/nebraska-cities?period=2023.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Nebraska by population, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/nebraska-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_nebraska_by_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Nebraska by population, 2023}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/nebraska-cities?period=2023. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Nebraska by population, 2023
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/nebraska-cities?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/nebraska-cities?period=2023.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Nebraska by population using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Omaha, NE, with 486,784 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Lexington, NE, with 11,007 in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Population: other rankings

Cities in Nebraska: more rankings