List of counties in Nebraska

Counties of Nebraska
Ad Ant Art Banner Bla Boo Box Butte Boyd Bro Buffalo Burt But Cass Ced Chase Cherry Chey Clay Col Cu Custer Da Dawes Dawson Deuel Dix Dod Dou Dundy Fill Fra Frontier Furn Ga Gard Gar Go Grant Gre Hall Ham Har Hay Hitch Holt Hook How Jeff Joh Kear Keith Keya Paha Kimball Knox Lan Lincoln Log Loup Mad McPh Mer Morrill Nan Ne Nuc Otoe Paw Perkins Phe Pie Platte Polk Red Willow Rich Roc Sal Sar Saun Scotts Bluff Sew Sherid Sher Sioux Sta Tha Thom Thur Vall Wa Way Web Whe York
Location	State of Nebraska
Number	93
Populations	444 (Arthur) – 463,585 (Douglas)
Areas	241 square miles (620 km^2) (Sarpy) – 5,961 square miles (15,440 km^2) (Cherry)
Government	County government
Subdivisions	cities, towns, townships, unincorporated communities, indian reservations, census designated place

The following is a list of the 93 counties in the U.S. state of Nebraska, listed by name, FIPS code and license plate prefix.

Nebraska's postal abbreviation is NE and its FIPS state code is 31.

When many counties were formed, the bills establishing them did not state the honoree's full name; thus the namesakes of several counties, including Brown, Deuel, Dixon, and possibly Harlan, are known only by their surnames.

County list

County	FIPS County Code [1]	County seat [2]	Established [2]	Origin	Etymology	License plate prefix [3]	Population [2]	Area [2]	Map
Adams County	001	Hastings	1867	Unorganized territory	John Adams, Founding Father and the second President of the United States	14	31,610	563 sq mi (1,458 km^2)
Antelope County	003	Neligh	1871	Unorganized territory	Pronghorn, often called antelope	26	6,456	857 sq mi (2,220 km^2)
Arthur County	005	Arthur	1887	Unorganized territory	Chester A. Arthur, twenty-first president of the United States	91	458	715 sq mi (1,852 km^2)
Banner County	007	Harrisburg	1888	Formed from Cheyenne County	Named for the hope of the early settlers to make the county the "banner county" of the state	85	759	746 sq mi (1,932 km^2)
Blaine County	009	Brewster	1885	Unorganized territory	James G. Blaine (1843-1923), Representative, Speaker of the House, Senator from Maine, Secretary of State, and Republican candidate in the 1884 presidential election	86	482	711 sq mi (1,841 km^2)
Boone County	011	Albion	1871	Unorganized territory	Daniel Boone, American pioneer and trapper	23	5,388	687 sq mi (1,779 km^2)
Box Butte County	013	Alliance	1887	Formed from Dawes County	Named for a large box-shaped butte located approximately six miles north of Alliance, Nebraska, the county seat.	65	11,305	1,075 sq mi (2,784 km^2)
Boyd County	015	Butte	1891	Holt County and unorganized territory (Indian Territory)	James E. Boyd, the eighth governor of Nebraska	63	2,032	540 sq mi (1,399 km^2)
Brown County	017	Ainsworth	1883	Unorganized territory	The Brown family of early settlers	75	2,926	1,221 sq mi (3,162 km^2)
Buffalo County	019	Kearney	1855	Unorganized territory	Named for the American Bison which once roamed the present county	9	47,893	968 sq mi (2,507 km^2)
Burt County	021	Tekamah	1854	One of nine original counties	Francis Burt, the first territorial governor of Nebraska who died after two days in office.	31	6,574	493 sq mi (1,277 km^2)
Butler County	023	David City	1856	Formed from Greene County	William Orlando Butler, U.S. Congressman from Kentucky and Mexican-American War hero	25	8,312	584 sq mi (1,513 km^2)
Cass County	025	Plattsmouth	1854	One of nine original counties	Lewis Cass, the territorial administrator and U.S. Senator from Michigan	20	25,357	559 sq mi (1,448 km^2)
Cedar County	027	Hartington	1857	Formed from Dixon and Pierce Counties	Named for the eastern red cedars present in the county[4]	13	8,711	740 sq mi (1,917 km^2)
Chase County	029	Imperial	1873	Unorganized territory	Champion S. Chase, a mayor of Omaha, Nebraska who served as Nebraska's first attorney general	72	4,000	894 sq mi (2,315 km^2)
Cherry County	031	Valentine	1883	Unorganized territory	Samuel A. Cherry, army lieutenant killed in the Indian Wars	66	5,788	5,961 sq mi (15,439 km^2)
Cheyenne County	033	Sidney	1867	Unorganized territory	Named for the Cheyenne Native American tribe	39	10,091	1,196 sq mi (3,098 km^2)
Clay County	035	Clay Center	1855	Formed from unorganized territory	Henry Clay, the Senator from Kentucky, U.S. Secretary of State, and presidential candidate	30	6,392	573 sq mi (1,484 km^2)
Colfax County	037	Schuyler	1869	Formed from Platte County	Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Vice President of the United States	43	10,425	413 sq mi (1,070 km^2)
Cuming County	039	West Point	1855	Formed from Burt County	Thomas B. Cuming, first Secretary of Nebraska Territory	24	8,996	572 sq mi (1,481 km^2)
Custer County	041	Broken Bow	1877	Unorganized territory	George Armstrong Custer, general in the Civil War and Indian Wars	4	10,792	2,576 sq mi (6,672 km^2)
Dakota County	043	Dakota City	1855	Formed from Burt County	Named for the Dakota branch of the Sioux Native American tribe	70	20,947	264 sq mi (684 km^2)
Dawes County	045	Chadron	1885	Formed from Sioux County	James W. Dawes, the sixth governor of Nebraska	69	9,088	1,396 sq mi (3,616 km^2)
Dawson County	047	Lexington	1860	Unorganized territory	Jacob Dawson, the first postmaster in present-day Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital	18	24,207	1,013 sq mi (2,624 km^2)
Deuel County	049	Chappell	1888	Formed from Cheyenne County	The Deuel family of early settlers	78	1,937	440 sq mi (1,140 km^2)
Dixon County	051	Ponca	1856	Formed from Blackbird County, Izard County, and unorganized territory	The Dixon family of early settlers	35	5,851	476 sq mi (1,233 km^2)
Dodge County	053	Fremont	1854	One of nine original counties	Augustus Caesar Dodge, a United States senator from Iowa who was a supporter of the Kansas-Nebraska Act	5	36,515	534 sq mi (1,383 km^2)
Douglas County	055	Omaha	1854	One of nine original counties	Stephen Arnold Douglas, the American statesman, U. S. senator, and presidential candidate	1	537,256	331 sq mi (857 km^2)
Dundy County	057	Benkelman	1873	Unorganized territory	Elmer Scipio Dundy, a U.S. Circuit Court judge from Nebraska	76	1,981	920 sq mi (2,383 km^2)
Fillmore County	059	Geneva	1856	Formed from Jackson County and unorganized territory	Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth president of the United States	34	5,698	576 sq mi (1,492 km^2)
Franklin County	061	Franklin	1867	Formed from Kearney County	Benjamin Franklin, the Founding Father, printer, scientist, and diplomat	50	3,085	576 sq mi (1,492 km^2)
Frontier County	063	Stockville	1872	Unorganized territory	Named for the fact that it was located in what was referred to at that time as part of the Nebraska frontier	60	2,709	975 sq mi (2,525 km^2)
Furnas County	065	Beaver City	1873	Unorganized territory	Robert Wilkinson Furnas, the third governor of Nebraska	38	4,865	718 sq mi (1,860 km^2)
Gage County	067	Beatrice	1855	Unorganized territory	William D. Gage, a Methodist minister who served as chaplain of the state legislature at the time the county was established	3	21,864	855 sq mi (2,214 km^2)
Garden County	069	Oshkosh	1910	Formed from Deuel County	Named for the hopes of two real estate agents and citizens of the county seat, Oshkosh, Nebraska, that the county would be the "garden spot of the west"	77	1,902	1,705 sq mi (4,416 km^2)
Garfield County	071	Burwell	1884	Formed from Wheeler County	James Abram Garfield, the twentieth president of the United States	83	2,035	570 sq mi (1,476 km^2)
Gosper County	073	Elwood	1873	Unorganized territory	John J. Gosper, the secretary of state for Nebraska at the time of the county's formation	73	1,972	458 sq mi (1,186 km^2)
Grant County	075	Hyannis	1887	Unorganized territory	Ulysses Simpson Grant, the eighteenth president of the United States and American Civil War general	92	633	776 sq mi (2,010 km^2)
Greeley County	077	Greeley	1871	Unorganized territory	Horace Greeley, the pioneering American journalist	62	2,494	570 sq mi (1,476 km^2)
Hall County	079	Grand Island	1858	Unorganized territory	Augustus Hall, the chief justice of the Territorial Supreme Court at the time the county was created	8	60,720	546 sq mi (1,414 km^2)
Hamilton County	081	Aurora	1867	Unorganized territory	Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Secretary of the Treasury	28	9,112	544 sq mi (1,409 km^2)
Harlan County	083	Alma	1871	Formed from Kearney County	Disputed; either James Harlan, Secretary of the Interior 1865-1866; or a revenue collector named Harlan who lived near Republican City	51	3,513	553 sq mi (1,432 km^2)
Hayes County	085	Hayes Center	1877	Unorganized territory	Rutherford Birchard Hayes, the nineteenth president of the United States	79	976	713 sq mi (1,847 km^2)
Hitchcock County	087	Trenton	1873	Unorganized territory	Phineas Warren Hitchcock, a U.S. Senator from Nebraska	67	2,872	710 sq mi (1,839 km^2)
Holt County	089	O'Neill	1860	Unorganized territory	Joseph Holt, a U.S. Postmaster General and U.S. Secretary of War under James Buchanan	36	10,449	2,413 sq mi (6,250 km^2)
Hooker County	091	Mullen	1889	Unorganized territory	Joseph Hooker, an American Civil War general	93	738	721 sq mi (1,867 km^2)
Howard County	093	Saint Paul	1871	Formed from Hall County	Oliver Otis Howard, an American Civil War general	49	6,355	570 sq mi (1,476 km^2)
Jefferson County	095	Fairbury	1856	Unorganized territory	Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States	33	7,560	573 sq mi (1,484 km^2)
Johnson County	097	Tecumseh	1857	Formed from Nemaha and Otoe Counties	Richard Mentor Johnson, the ninth vice president of the United States	57	5,144	376 sq mi (974 km^2)
Kearney County	099	Minden	1860	Unorganized territory	Named for Fort Kearny - when the county was created the fort's name was misspelled	52	6,548	516 sq mi (1,336 km^2)
Keith County	101	Ogallala	1873	Unorganized territory	M. C. Keith, who owned one of the largest ranches in western Nebraska at the time	68	8,130	1,061 sq mi (2,748 km^2)
Keya Paha County	103	Springview	1884	Formed from Brown County and unorganized Indian territory	Dakota words Ké-ya Pa-há Wa-kpá, which, translated, mean turtle hill river	82	790	773 sq mi (2,002 km^2)
Kimball County	105	Kimball	1888	Formed from Cheyenne County	Thomas L. Kimball, an official of the Union Pacific Railroad	71	3,702	952 sq mi (2,466 km^2)
Knox County	107	Center	1857	Formed from Pierce County and unorganized territory (Former names-L'Eau Qui Court (1857-1867) and Emmet (1867-1873))	Henry Knox, the first United States Secretary of War	12	8,565	1,108 sq mi (2,870 km^2)
Lancaster County	109	Lincoln	1855	Formed from Cass and Pierce Counties	The cities of Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Lancaster, England.	2	297,036	839 sq mi (2,173 km^2)
Lincoln County	111	North Platte	1860	Unorganized territory	Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States	15	36,051	2,564 sq mi (6,641 km^2)
Logan County	113	Stapleton	1885	Unorganized territory	John Alexander Logan, a general in the American Civil War	87	763	571 sq mi (1,479 km^2)
Loup County	115	Taylor	1883	Unorganized territory	Loup River which in turn is named for the French word loup which means wolf	88	576	570 sq mi (1,476 km^2)
Madison County	119	Madison	1856	Formed from Loup County, and McNeale County, and unorganized territory	Either James Madison, the fourth president of the United States; or, more likely, Madison, Wisconsin, where most of the new county's settlers were from	7	35,278	573 sq mi (1,484 km^2)
McPherson County	117	Tryon	1887	Unorganized territory	James Birdseye McPherson, a general in the American Civil War	90	526	859 sq mi (2,225 km^2)
Merrick County	121	Central City	1858	Formed from Polk County and unorganized territory	Elvira Merrick, wife of Henry W. DePuy, a territorial legislator	46	7,802	485 sq mi (1,256 km^2)
Morrill County	123	Bridgeport	1908	Formed from Cheyenne County	Charles Henry Morrill, a president of the Lincoln Land Company	64	4,908	1,424 sq mi (3,688 km^2)
Nance County	125	Fullerton	1879	Formed from a Pawnee Indian reservation	Albinus Nance, the fourth governor of Nebraska	58	3,623	441 sq mi (1,142 km^2)
Nemaha County	127	Auburn	1854	One of nine original counties	Nimaha, the Oto name meaning miry water for a stream which crossed the county and emptied into the Missouri River	44	7,157	409 sq mi (1,059 km^2)
Nuckolls County	129	Nelson	1860	Unorganized territory	Lafayette Nuckolls, a member of the first Nebraska territorial legislature; and his brother, Stephen Nuckolls, a pioneering Nebraska settler, businessman and banker	42	4,413	575 sq mi (1,489 km^2)
Otoe County	131	Nebraska City	1854	One of nine original counties	Oto (also Otoe) Native American tribe	11	15,752	616 sq mi (1,595 km^2)
Pawnee County	133	Pawnee City	1855	Formed from Richardson County	Pawnee Native American tribe	54	2,709	432 sq mi (1,119 km^2)
Perkins County	135	Grant	1887	Formed from Keith County	Charles E. Perkins, a president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	74	2,921	883 sq mi (2,287 km^2)
Phelps County	137	Holdrege	1873	Formed from Kearney County	William Phelps, a riverboat captain on the Mississippi River who is alleged to have settled in the area	37	9,213	540 sq mi (1,399 km^2)
Pierce County	139	Pierce	1856	Formed from Izard County, McNeale County, and unorganized territory	Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth president of the United States	40	7,510	574 sq mi (1,487 km^2)
Platte County	141	Columbus	1856	Formed from Greene and Loup Counties	Platte River which is in turn named for the French word for flat	10	32,505	678 sq mi (1,756 km^2)
Polk County	143	Osceola	1856	Formed from York County and unorganized territory	James Knox Polk, the eleventh president of the United States	41	5,275	439 sq mi (1,137 km^2)
Red Willow County	145	McCook	1873	Unorganized territory	Red Willow Creek, which runs through the area	48	11,006	717 sq mi (1,857 km^2)
Richardson County	147	Falls City	1854	One of nine original counties	William A. Richardson, a governor of the Nebraska Territory	19	8,125	554 sq mi (1,435 km^2)
Rock County	149	Bassett	1885	Formed from Brown County	Either Rock Creek, which flows in the county; or the rocky condition of the soil in the area	81	1,411	1,008 sq mi (2,611 km^2)
Saline County	151	Wilber	1867	Unorganized territory	Named for a belief held by the early pioneers that great salt springs and deposits could be found in the area, a hope found to be false	22	14,416	575 sq mi (1,489 km^2)
Sarpy County	153	Papillion	1857	Formed from Cass and Douglas Counties	Peter A. Sarpy, a commander of a trading post in the future county	59	169,331	241 sq mi (624 km^2)
Saunders County	155	Wahoo	1856	Formed from Douglas and Lancaster Counties	Alvin Saunders, a governor of the Nebraska Territory	6	20,929	754 sq mi (1,953 km^2)
Scotts Bluff County	157	Gering	1888	Formed from Cheyenne County	Named for a towering bluff located in the Scotts Bluff National Monument; the bluffs themselves are named for Hiram Scott, a fur trapper who is alleged to have crawled 75 miles with a broken leg before collapsing and dying at the foot of the formation	21	36,848	739 sq mi (1,914 km^2)
Seward County	159	Seward	1855	Formed from Cass and Pierce Counties	William Henry Seward, the United States Secretary of State during the 1860s	16	17,089	575 sq mi (1,489 km^2)
Sheridan County	161	Rushville	1885	Formed from Sioux County	Philip Henry Sheridan, a general in the American Civil War	61	5,251	2,441 sq mi (6,322 km^2)
Sherman County	163	Loup City	1871	Formed from Buffalo County and unorganized territory	William Tecumseh Sherman, the American Civil War general	56	3,106	566 sq mi (1,466 km^2)
Sioux County	165	Harrison	1877	Unorganized territory	Sioux Native American tribe	80	1,475	1,313 sq mi (3,401 km^2)
Stanton County	167	Stanton	1855	Formed from Burt County	Edwin M. Stanton, the United States Secretary of War during most of the American Civil War	53	6,133	430 sq mi (1,114 km^2)
Thayer County	169	Hebron	1871	Formed from Jefferson County	John Milton Thayer, the seventh governor of Nebraska	32	5,189	575 sq mi (1,489 km^2)
Thomas County	171	Thedford	1887	Unorganized territory	George Henry Thomas, a general in the American Civil War	89	699	713 sq mi (1,847 km^2)
Thurston County	173	Pender	1889	Formed form Blackbird County and an Omaha Indian reservation	John Mellen Thurston, a U. S. senator from Nebraska	55	6,895	394 sq mi (1,020 km^2)
Valley County	175	Ord	1871	Unorganized territory	Named for the many valleys in the area	47	4,193	568 sq mi (1,471 km^2)
Washington County	177	Blair	1854	One of nine original counties	George Washington, the first president of the United States	29	20,223	390 sq mi (1,010 km^2)
Wayne County	179	Wayne	1867	Unorganized territory	Anthony Wayne, the American Revolutionary War general nicknamed "Mad Anthony" by his troops	27	9,411	444 sq mi (1,150 km^2)
Webster County	181	Red Cloud	1867	Unorganized territory	Daniel Webster, the statesman and U.S. Senator from Massachusetts	45	3,688	575 sq mi (1,489 km^2)
Wheeler County	183	Bartlett	1877	Unorganized territory	Daniel H. Wheeler, a secretary of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture	84	759	575 sq mi (1,489 km^2)
York County	185	York	1855	Formed from Cass County, Pierce County, and unorganized territory	Named for either York, England, or York County, Pennsylvania	17	13,883	576 sq mi (1,492 km^2)

Former counties of Nebraska:

• Clay (1855-1864) Formed from unorganized territory and dissolved into Gage and Lancaster County.
• Jackson (1855-1856) Formed from unorganized territory and dissolved to Fillmore County and unorganized territory
• Johnson (1855-1856) Formed from unorganized territory and dissolved to unorganized territory
• Blackbird (1855-1888) Formed from Burt County and dissolved to Thurston County
• Loup (1855-1856) Formed from Burt and Un-Organized and then dissolved Madison, Monroe and Platte Counties
• Jones (1856-1866) Formed from unorganized territory and dissolved into Jefferson County.
• Grant, Harrison, Jackson, Lynn, Monroe and Taylor counties listed in 1870 - see map
• West (1860-1862) Formed from unorganized territory and dissolved into Holt County

References

1. "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA.gov. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
2. National Association of Counties. "NACo County Explorer". Retrieved 2015-10-25.
3. The license plate prefix sequence is derived from the number of vehicles registered in each county in 1922.
4. Fitzpatrick, Lilian Linder (1925). "Nebraska Place-Names". University of Nebraska Department of English. Retrieved 2010-09-02.