List of counties in Nebraska

There are 93 counties in the U.S. state of Nebraska.

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

County list

County	FIPS code	County seat	Established	Origin	Meaning of name	License plate prefix	Population	Area	Map
Adams County	001	Hastings	1867	Un-Organized	John Adams, Founding Father and the second President of the United States	14	31,151	563 sq mi (1,458 km2)
Antelope County	003	Neligh	1871	Un-Organized	Pronghorn, often called antelope	26	7,452	857 sq mi (2,220 km2)
Arthur County	005	Arthur	1887	Un-Organized	Chester A. Arthur, twenty-first president of the United States	91	444	715 sq mi (1,852 km2)
Banner County	007	Harrisburg	1888	Formed from Cheyenne	Named for the hope of the early settlers to make the county the "banner county" of the state	85	819	746 sq mi (1,932 km2)
Blaine County	009	Brewster	1885	Unorganized	James G. Blaine (1843-1923), U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time United States Secretary of State, and Republican candidate in the 1884 presidential election	86	583	711 sq mi (1,841 km2)
Boone County	011	Albion	1871	Unorganized	Daniel Boone, American pioneer and trapper	23	6,259	687 sq mi (1,779 km2)
Box Butte County	013	Alliance	1887	Formed from Dawes	Named for a large box-shaped butte located approximately six miles north of Alliance, Nebraska, the county seat.	65	12,158	1,075 sq mi (2,784 km2)
Boyd County	015	Butte	1891	Holt County, and Un-Organized (Indian Territory)	James E. Boyd, the eighth governor of Nebraska	63	2,438	540 sq mi (1,399 km2)
Brown County	017	Ainsworth	1883	Un-Organized	The Brown family of early settlers	75	3,525	1,221 sq mi (3,162 km2)
Buffalo County	019	Kearney	1855	Un-Organized	Named for the American Bison which once roamed the present county	9	42,259	968 sq mi (2,507 km2)
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	7,791	493 sq mi (1,277 km2)
Butler County	023	David City	1856	Formed from Greene	William Orlando Butler, U.S. Congressman from Kentucky and Mexican-American War hero	25	8,767	584 sq mi (1,513 km2)
Cass County	025	Plattsmouth	1854	One of Nine Original Counties	Lewis Cass, the territorial administrator and U.S. Senator from Michigan	20	24,334	559 sq mi (1,448 km2)
Cedar County	027	Hartington	1857	Formed from Dixon and Pierce Counties	Named for the many juniper trees (locally mis-identified as cedars) in the area	13	9,615	740 sq mi (1,917 km2)
Chase County	029	Imperial	1873	Un-Organized	Champion S. Chase, a mayor of Omaha, Nebraska who was Nebraska's first attorney general	72	4,068	894 sq mi (2,315 km2)
Cherry County	031	Valentine	1883	Un-Organized	Samuel A. Cherry, army lieutenant killed in the Indian Wars	66	6,148	5,961 sq mi (15,439 km2)
Cheyenne County	033	Sidney	1867	Un-Organized	Named for the Cheyenne Native American tribe	39	9,830	1,196 sq mi (3,098 km2)
Clay County	035	Clay Center	1855	Formed from Un-Organized	Henry Clay, the Senator from Kentucky, U.S. Secretary of State, and presidential candidate	30	7,039	573 sq mi (1,484 km2)
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	10,441	413 sq mi (1,070 km2)
Cuming County	039	West Point	1855	Formed from Burt County	Thomas B. Cuming, first Secretary of Nebraska Territory	24	10,203	572 sq mi (1,481 km2)
Custer County	041	Broken Bow	1877	Un-Organized	George Armstrong Custer, general in the Civil War and Indian Wars	4	11,793	2,576 sq mi (6,672 km2)
Dakota County	043	Dakota City	1855	Formed from Burt County	Named for the Dakota branch of the Sioux Native American tribe	70	20,253	264 sq mi (684 km2)
Dawes County	045	Chadron	1885	Formed from Sioux County	James W. Dawes, the sixth governor of Nebraska	69	9,060	1,396 sq mi (3,616 km2)
Dawson County	047	Lexington	1860	Un-Organized	Jacob Dawson, the first postmaster in present-day Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital	18	24,365	1,013 sq mi (2,624 km2)
Deuel County	049	Chappell	1888	Formed from Cheyenne County	The Deuel family of early settlers	78	2,098	440 sq mi (1,140 km2)
Dixon County	051	Ponca	1856	Formed from Blackbird County, Izard County and Un-Organized	The Dixon family of early settlers	35	6,339	476 sq mi (1,233 km2)
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	36,160	534 sq mi (1,383 km2)
Douglas County	055	Omaha	1854	One of Nine Original Counties	Stephen Arnold Douglas, the American statesman, U. S. senator, and presidential candidate	1	463,585	331 sq mi (857 km2)
Dundy County	057	Benkelman	1873	Un-Organized	Elmer Scipio Dundy, a U.S. Circuit Court judge from Nebraska	76	2,292	920 sq mi (2,383 km2)
Fillmore County	059	Geneva	1856	Formed from Jackson County and Un-Organized	Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth president of the United States	34	6,634	576 sq mi (1,492 km2)
Franklin County	061	Franklin	1867	Formed from Kearney	Benjamin Franklin, the Founding Father, printer, scientist, and diplomat	50	3,574	576 sq mi (1,492 km2)
Frontier County	063	Stockville	1872	Un-organized	Named for the fact that it was in what was referred to at that time as part of the Nebraska frontier	60	3,099	975 sq mi (2,525 km2)
Furnas County	065	Beaver City	1873	Un-Organized	Robert Wilkinson Furnas, the third governor of Nebraska	38	5,324	718 sq mi (1,860 km2)
Gage County	067	Beatrice	1855	Un-Organized	William D. Gage, a Methodist minister who was chaplain of the state legislature at the time the county was established	3	22,993	855 sq mi (2,214 km2)
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	2,292	1,705 sq mi (4,416 km2)
Garfield County	071	Burwell	1884	Formed from Wheeler County	James Abram Garfield, the twentieth president of the United States	83	1,902	570 sq mi (1,476 km2)
Gosper County	073	Elwood	1873	Un-Organized	John J. Gosper, the secretary of state for Nebraska at the time of the county's formation	73	2,143	458 sq mi (1,186 km2)
Grant County	075	Hyannis	1887	Un-Organized	Ulysses Simpson Grant, the eighteenth president of the United States and American Civil War general	92	747	776 sq mi (2,010 km2)
Greeley County	077	Greeley	1871	Un-Organized	Horace Greeley, the pioneering American journalist	62	2,714	570 sq mi (1,476 km2)
Hall County	079	Grand Island	1858	Un-Organized	Augustus Hall, the chief justice of the Territorial Supreme Court at the time the county was created	8	53,534	546 sq mi (1,414 km2)
Hamilton County	081	Aurora	1867	Un-Organized	Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Secretary of the Treasury	28	9,403	544 sq mi (1,409 km2)
Harlan County	083	Alma	1871	Formed from Kearney	Disputed; either James Harlan, who was the United States Secretary of the Interior in 1865 and 1866; or a revenue collector by the name of Harlan who once lived near Republican City, Nebraska	51	3,786	553 sq mi (1,432 km2)
Hayes County	085	Hayes Center	1877	Un-Organized	Rutherford Birchard Hayes, the nineteenth president of the United States	79	1,068	713 sq mi (1,847 km2)
Hitchcock County	087	Trenton	1873	Un-Organized	Phineas Warren Hitchcock, a U.S. Senator from Nebraska	67	3,111	710 sq mi (1,839 km2)
Holt County	089	O'Neill	1860	Un-Organized (Formerly- West County)	Joseph Holt, a U.S. Postmaster General and U.S. Secretary of War under James Buchanan	36	11,551	2,413 sq mi (6,250 km2)
Hooker County	091	Mullen	1889	Un-Organized	Joseph Hooker, an American Civil War general	93	783	721 sq mi (1,867 km2)
Howard County	093	Saint Paul	1871	Formed from Hall County	Oliver Otis Howard, an American Civil War general	49	6,567	570 sq mi (1,476 km2)
Jefferson County	095	Fairbury	1856	Un-organized	Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States	33	8,333	573 sq mi (1,484 km2)
Johnson County	097	Tecumseh	1857	Formed from Nemaha and Otoe Counties	Richard Mentor Johnson, the ninth vice president of the United States	57	4,488	376 sq mi (974 km2)
Kearney County	099	Minden	1860	Un-Organized	Named for Fort Kearny - when the county was created the fort's name was misspelled	52	6,882	516 sq mi (1,336 km2)
Keith County	101	Ogallala	1873	Un-Organized	M. C. Keith, who owned one of the largest ranches in western Nebraska at the time	68	8,875	1,061 sq mi (2,748 km2)
Keya Paha County	103	Springview	1884	Formed from Brown County and Un-Organized (Indian Territory)	Dakota words Ké-ya Pa-há Wa-kpá, which, translated, mean turtle hill river	82	983	773 sq mi (2,002 km2)
Kimball County	105	Kimball	1888	Formed from Cheyenne County	Thomas L. Kimball, an official of the Union Pacific Railroad	71	4,089	952 sq mi (2,466 km2)
Knox County	107	Center	1857	Formed from Pierce County and Un-Organized (Formal names-L'Eau Qui Court (1857-1867) and Emmet (1867-1873))	Henry Knox, the first United States Secretary of War	12	9,374	1,108 sq mi (2,870 km2)
Lancaster County	109	Lincoln	1855	Formed from Cass, and Pierce Counties	The cities of Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Lancaster, England.	2	250,291	839 sq mi (2,173 km2)
Lincoln County	111	North Platte	1860	Un-Organized (Formerly Shorter County)	Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States	15	34,632	2,564 sq mi (6,641 km2)
Logan County	113	Stapleton	1885	Un-Organized	John Alexander Logan, a general in the American Civil War	87	774	571 sq mi (1,479 km2)
Loup County	115	Taylor	1883	Un-Organized	Loup River which in turn is named for the French word loup which means wolf	88	712	570 sq mi (1,476 km2)
Madison County	119	Madison	1856	Formed from Loup County and McNeale Counties and Un-Organized	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	35,226	573 sq mi (1,484 km2)
McPherson County	117	Tryon	1887	Un-Organized	James Birdseye McPherson, a general in the American Civil War	90	533	859 sq mi (2,225 km2)
Merrick County	121	Central City	1858	Formed from Polk County and Un-Organized	Elvira Merrick, wife of Henry W. DePuy, a territorial legislator	46	8,204	485 sq mi (1,256 km2)
Morrill County	123	Bridgeport	1908	Formed from Cheyenne County	Charles Henry Morrill, a president of the Lincoln Land Company	64	5,440	1,424 sq mi (3,688 km2)
Nance County	125	Fullerton	1879	Formed from Pawnee Reservation	Albinus Nance, the fourth governor of Nebraska	58	4,038	441 sq mi (1,142 km2)
Nemaha County	127	Auburn	1854	One of Nine original counties (Formerly Forney)	Nimaha, the Oto name meaning miry water for a stream which crossed the county and emptied into the Missouri River	44	7,576	409 sq mi (1,059 km2)
Nuckolls County	129	Nelson	1860	Un-Organized	Lafayette Nuckolls, a member of the first Nebraska territorial legislature; and his brother, Stephen Nuckolls, a pioneering Nebraska settler, businessman and banker	42	5,057	575 sq mi (1,489 km2)
Otoe County	131	Nebraska City	1854	One of nine Original Counties (Formerly Pierce)	Oto (also Otoe) Native American tribe	11	15,396	616 sq mi (1,595 km2)
Pawnee County	133	Pawnee City	1855	Formed from Richardson County	Pawnee Native American tribe	54	3,087	432 sq mi (1,119 km2)
Perkins County	135	Grant	1887	Formed from Kieth County	Charles E. Perkins, a president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	74	3,200	883 sq mi (2,287 km2)
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	9,747	540 sq mi (1,399 km2)
Pierce County	139	Pierce	1856	Formed from Izard County, McNeale County and Un-Organized	Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth president of the United States	40	7,857	574 sq mi (1,487 km2)
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	31,662	678 sq mi (1,756 km2)
Polk County	143	Osceola	1856	Formed from York County and Un-Organized	James Knox Polk, the eleventh president of the United States	41	5,639	439 sq mi (1,137 km2)
Red Willow County	145	McCook	1873	Un-Organized	Red Willow Creek, which runs through the area	48	11,448	717 sq mi (1,857 km2)
Richardson County	147	Falls City	1854	One of Nine Original Counties	William A. Richardson, a governor of the Nebraska Territory	19	9,531	554 sq mi (1,435 km2)
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	1,756	1,008 sq mi (2,611 km2)
Saline County	151	Wilber	1867	Un-organized	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	13,843	575 sq mi (1,489 km2)
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	122,595	241 sq mi (624 km2)
Saunders County	155	Wahoo	1856	Formed from Douglas and Lancaster (Formerly Calhoun County (1856-1865))	Alvin Saunders, a governor of the Nebraska Territory	6	19,830	754 sq mi (1,953 km2)
Scotts Bluff County	157	Gering	1888	Formed from Cheyenne County	Named for a towering bluff 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	36,951	739 sq mi (1,914 km2)
Seward County	159	Seward	1855	Formed from Cass and Pierce Counties (Formerly- Greene County)	William Henry Seward, the United States Secretary of State during the 1860s	16	16,496	575 sq mi (1,489 km2)
Sheridan County	161	Rushville	1885	Formed from Sioux County	Philip Henry Sheridan, a general in the American Civil War	61	6,198	2,441 sq mi (6,322 km2)
Sherman County	163	Loup City	1871	Formed from Buffalo County and Un-Organized	William Tecumseh Sherman, the American Civil War general	56	3,318	566 sq mi (1,466 km2)
Sioux County	165	Harrison	1877	Un-Organized	Sioux Native American tribe	80	1,475	2,067 sq mi (5,354 km2)
Stanton County	167	Stanton	1855	Formed from Burt County (Formerly Izard County)	Edwin McMasters Stanton, the United States Secretary of War during most of the American Civil War	53	6,455	430 sq mi (1,114 km2)
Thayer County	169	Hebron	1871	Formed from Jefferson County	John Milton Thayer, the seventh governor of Nebraska	32	6,055	575 sq mi (1,489 km2)
Thomas County	171	Thedford	1887	Un-Organized	George Henry Thomas, a general in the American Civil War	89	729	713 sq mi (1,847 km2)
Thurston County	173	Pender	1889	Formed form Blackbird County and Omaha Reservation	John Mellen Thurston, a U. S. senator from Nebraska	55	7,171	394 sq mi (1,020 km2)
Valley County	175	Ord	1871	Un-Organized	Named for the many valleys in the area	47	4,647	568 sq mi (1,471 km2)
Washington County	177	Blair	1854	One of Nine Original Counties	George Washington, the first president of the United States	29	18,780	390 sq mi (1,010 km2)
Wayne County	179	Wayne	1867	Un-Organized	Anthony Wayne, the American Revolutionary War general nicknamed "Mad Anthony" by his troops	27	9,851	444 sq mi (1,150 km2)
Webster County	181	Red Cloud	1867	Un-organized	Daniel Webster, the statesman and U.S. Senator from Massachusetts	45	4,061	575 sq mi (1,489 km2)
Wheeler County	183	Bartlett	1877	Un-Organized	Daniel H. Wheeler, a secretary of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture	84	886	575 sq mi (1,489 km2)
York County	185	York	1855	Formed from Cass County, Pierce County and Un-Organized	Named for either York, England, or York County, Pennsylvania	17	14,598	576 sq mi (1,492 km2)

Former counties of Nebraska

• Clay (1855-64) Formed from un-organized and dissolved into Gage and Lancaster County.
• Jackson (1855-6) Formed from un-organized and dissolved to the Fillmore County and un-organized.
• Johnson (1855-6) Formed from un-organized and dissolved to un-organized
• Blackbird (1855-88) Formed from Burt County and dissolved to Thurston County
• Loup (1855-6) Formed from Burt and un-organized and then dissolved Madison, Monroe and Platte Counties
• Jones (1856-66) Formed from un-organized and dissolved into Jefferson County.
• Grant, Harrison, Jackson, Lynn, Monroe and Taylor counties listed in 1870 (But no proof on where)