Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Nebraska

Cities in Nebraska by population

Omaha, NE had the highest population of 16 cities in 2024, at 489,247. Lexington, NE had the lowest, at 11,217. The median was 25,193 and the figure for Nebraska was 2.01 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest489,247Omaha, NE
Lowest11,217Lexington, NE
Median25,19316 cities
Nebraska2,005,591History

All cities, 2024

Omaha, NE: 489,247 personsOmaha, NE489,247Lincoln, NE: 299,265 personsLincoln, NE299,265Bellevue, NE: 64,768 personsBellevue, NE64,768Grand Island, NE: 54,121 personsGrand Island, NE54,121Kearney, NE: 34,759 personsKearney, NE34,759Fremont, NE: 28,237 personsFremont, NE28,237Norfolk, NE: 26,324 personsNorfolk, NE26,324Columbus, NE: 25,220 personsColumbus, NE25,220Hastings, NE: 25,166 personsHastings, NE25,166Papillion, NE: 25,143 personsPapillion, NE25,143North Platte, NE: 22,524 personsNorth Platte, NE22,524La Vista, NE: 16,517 personsLa Vista, NE16,517Scottsbluff, NE: 14,305 personsScottsbluff, NE14,305South Sioux City, NE: 14,012 personsSouth Sioux City, NE14,012Beatrice, NE: 12,290 personsBeatrice, NE12,290Lexington, NE: 11,217 personsLexington, NE11,217Omaha, NE: 489,247 personsOmaha, NE489,247Lincoln, NE: 299,265 personsLincoln, NE299,265Bellevue, NE: 64,768 personsBellevue, NE64,768Grand Island, NE: 54,121 personsGrand Island, NE54,121Kearney, NE: 34,759 personsKearney, NE34,759Fremont, NE: 28,237 personsFremont, NE28,237Norfolk, NE: 26,324 personsNorfolk, NE26,324Columbus, NE: 25,220 personsColumbus, NE25,220Hastings, NE: 25,166 personsHastings, NE25,166Papillion, NE: 25,143 personsPapillion, NE25,143North Platte, NE: 22,524 personsNorth Platte, NE22,524La Vista, NE: 16,517 personsLa Vista, NE16,517Scottsbluff, NE: 14,305 personsScottsbluff, NE14,305South Sioux City, NE: 14,012 personsSouth Sioux City, NE14,012Beatrice, NE: 12,290 personsBeatrice, NE12,290Lexington, NE: 11,217 personsLexington, NE11,217
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

RankCities2024
persons		Change on 2023
1Omaha, NE489,247+0.5%
2Lincoln, NE299,265+1%
3Bellevue, NE64,768+1%
4Grand Island, NE54,121+1.1%
5Kearney, NE34,759+0.9%
6Fremont, NE28,237+1.4%
7Norfolk, NE26,3240%
8Columbus, NE25,220+1.3%
9Hastings, NE25,166+1%
10Papillion, NE25,143+0.9%
11North Platte, NE22,524-0.3%
12La Vista, NE16,517+0.8%
13Scottsbluff, NE14,305-0.2%
14South Sioux City, NE14,012+0.9%
15Beatrice, NE12,290+0.2%
16Lexington, NE11,217+1.9%

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, 2024) [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, 2024. 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=2024. 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, 2024. 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=2024.

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, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/nebraska-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_nebraska_by_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  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=2024. 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, 2024
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=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/nebraska-cities?period=2024.
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 489,247 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Lexington, NE, with 11,217 in 2024.

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