Counties in Nebraska by population

Douglas County had the highest population of 93 counties in 2021, at 585,604. McPherson County had the lowest, at 380. The median was 6,049 and the figure for Nebraska was 1.96 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest585,604Douglas County
Median6,04993 counties
Nebraska1,964,697History

Top 40 counties, 2021

CSVChart (SVG)

Douglas CountyDouglas County: 585,604 persons585,604Lancaster CountyLancaster County: 323,504 persons323,504Sarpy CountySarpy County: 193,908 persons193,908Hall CountyHall County: 62,082 persons62,082Buffalo CountyBuffalo County: 50,337 persons50,337Dodge CountyDodge County: 37,127 persons37,127Scotts Bluff CountyScotts Bluff County: 35,901 persons35,901Madison CountyMadison County: 35,406 persons35,406Platte CountyPlatte County: 34,307 persons34,307Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 34,084 persons34,084Adams CountyAdams County: 30,975 persons30,975Cass CountyCass County: 27,084 persons27,084Dawson CountyDawson County: 23,935 persons23,935Saunders CountySaunders County: 22,825 persons22,825Gage CountyGage County: 21,644 persons21,644Dakota CountyDakota County: 21,272 persons21,272Washington CountyWashington County: 21,004 persons21,004Seward CountySeward County: 17,561 persons17,561Otoe CountyOtoe County: 16,031 persons16,031Saline CountySaline County: 14,533 persons14,533York CountyYork County: 14,226 persons14,226Box Butte CountyBox Butte County: 10,663 persons10,663Red Willow CountyRed Willow County: 10,621 persons10,621Custer CountyCuster County: 10,500 persons10,500Colfax CountyColfax County: 10,484 persons10,484Holt CountyHolt County: 10,050 persons10,050Wayne CountyWayne County: 9,877 persons9,877Cheyenne CountyCheyenne County: 9,497 persons9,497Hamilton CountyHamilton County: 9,393 persons9,393Cuming CountyCuming County: 8,995 persons8,995Phelps CountyPhelps County: 8,923 persons8,923Butler CountyButler County: 8,448 persons8,448Knox CountyKnox County: 8,396 persons8,396Cedar CountyCedar County: 8,323 persons8,323Keith CountyKeith County: 8,256 persons8,256Dawes CountyDawes County: 8,146 persons8,146Richardson CountyRichardson County: 7,789 persons7,789Merrick CountyMerrick County: 7,661 persons7,661Pierce CountyPierce County: 7,319 persons7,319Jefferson CountyJefferson County: 7,165 persons7,165
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

RankCounties2021
persons
Change on 2020
1Douglas County585,6040%
2Lancaster County323,504+0.1%
3Sarpy County193,908+1.4%
4Hall County62,082-1.1%
5Buffalo County50,337+0.3%
6Dodge County37,127+0.1%
7Scotts Bluff County35,901-0.4%
8Madison County35,406-0.4%
9Platte County34,3070%
10Lincoln County34,084-1.3%
11Adams County30,975-0.6%
12Cass County27,084+1.8%
13Dawson County23,935-0.6%
14Saunders County22,825+2.1%
15Gage County21,644-0.1%
16Dakota County21,272-1.3%
17Washington County21,004+0.3%
18Seward County17,561-0.4%
19Otoe County16,031+0.8%
20Saline County14,533-1.2%
21York County14,226+0.9%
22Box Butte County10,663-1.5%
23Red Willow County10,621-0.6%
24Custer County10,5000%
25Colfax County10,484-0.7%
26Holt County10,050-0.4%
27Wayne County9,877+1.8%
28Cheyenne County9,497+0.1%
29Hamilton County9,393-0.1%
30Cuming County8,995-0.2%
31Phelps County8,923-0.6%
32Butler County8,448+1.1%
33Knox County8,396+0.2%
34Cedar County8,323-0.6%
35Keith County8,256-0.8%
36Dawes County8,146-0.1%
37Richardson County7,789-0.9%
38Merrick County7,661+0.1%
39Pierce County7,319-0.3%
40Jefferson County7,165-1.3%
41Nemaha County7,004-1.2%
42Burt County6,709-0.2%
43Kearney County6,688-0%
44Thurston County6,594-2.4%
45Howard County6,532+0.7%
46Antelope County6,303+0.3%
47Clay County6,049-0.9%
48Stanton County5,829+0.1%
49Dixon County5,555-0.5%
50Fillmore County5,547-0.4%
51Cherry County5,448-0.2%
52Boone County5,384+0.4%
53Johnson County5,312+0.4%
54Polk County5,187-0.5%
55Sheridan County5,080-0.4%
56Thayer County4,890-2.6%
57Furnas County4,605-0.4%
58Morrill County4,566+0.3%
59Nuckolls County4,072-0.5%
60Valley County4,063+0.1%
61Chase County3,830-1.6%
62Kimball County3,407-0.1%
63Webster County3,393+0.1%
64Nance County3,376-0.5%
65Harlan County3,097+1.3%
66Sherman County2,972+0.4%
67Brown County2,921+0.7%
68Franklin County2,875-0.3%
69Perkins County2,817-1.5%
70Hitchcock County2,605-0.7%
71Frontier County2,551+1.8%
72Pawnee County2,534-0.1%
73Greeley County2,185+0.1%
74Deuel County1,848+0.8%
75Garden County1,843-2.4%
76Garfield County1,833+1.4%
77Gosper County1,830-3.4%
78Boyd County1,783-1.5%
79Dundy County1,630-1.5%
80Rock County1,277+0.7%
81Sioux County1,155+0.8%
82Hayes County841-0.8%
83Keya Paha County796+4.7%
84Wheeler County784+1.4%
85Hooker County734+4%
86Banner County689+1.5%
87Logan County683-4.1%
88Thomas County676+0.7%
89Loup County603-0.7%
90Grant County578-5.6%
91Blaine County465+8.4%
92Arthur County433+0.7%
93McPherson County380-4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (PadrĂ³n). United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

For Denmark, Statistics Denmark counts the registered resident population on 1 January. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are excluded. The annual series selects the first-quarter reference date from FOLK1A. 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 counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in Nebraska by population using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"population","level":"province","within":"Nebraska","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=population&level=province&within=Nebraska&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest population?

Douglas County, with 585,604 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest population?

McPherson County, with 380 in 2021.

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 the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program). Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Population: other rankings

Counties in Nebraska: more rankings