Furnas County area

Furnas County, Nebraska covers 720.6 square miles: 719.2 square miles of land and 1.439 square miles of water. Its county seat is Beaver City. An estimated 4,524 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 310652026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area719.2 mi²
Water area1.439 mi²
Population (2025)4,524
People per mi²6.3

County outline

Generalized outline of Furnas County, Nebraska
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Furnas County is located

Furnas County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.8% of Furnas County’s measured area and water for 0.2%. Its combined area converts to 1,866.5 square kilometers or approximately 461,212 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land719.2041,862.73460,290.6
Water1.4393.727921
Total720.6431,866.457461,211.5

How Furnas County compares

By original Census land area, Furnas County ranks #34 of 93 in Nebraska and #1249 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.25 times the Nebraska county-equivalent median of 575.2 square miles. It accounts for 0.9% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete Nebraska ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Furnas County

The Census Bureau estimates that 4,524 people lived in Furnas County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #2,930 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #57 of 93 in Nebraska. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 4,630, the population has declined by 106 (−2.3%), compared with +2.9% for Nebraska as a whole.

With 719.2 square miles of land, that is 6.3 people per square mile (2.4 per km²), placing Furnas County #2,792 nationally for density and #55 in Nebraska. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Nebraska median is 8. Put another way, there are about 102 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate4,6244,6054,5714,5484,4714,524
Change—−19−34−23−77+53

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Furnas County

8 incorporated places lie at least partly in Furnas County. Together they are home to 3,471 people (76.7%); the other 1,053 (23.3%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Cambridge city, with 1,066 residents in the county. The county seat, Beaver City city, has 523 residents.

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Cambridge city1,066−0.5%1.331
Arapahoe city957−3.9%0.971
Oxford villageAlso in 1 other county524−2.2%0.91
Beaver City cityCounty seat523−2.4%0.854
Holbrook village197−2.5%0.161
Edison village109−1.8%0.376
Wilsonville village73−2.7%0.267
Hendley village220%0.213

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each place inside Furnas County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer, for the whole place even where it extends into other counties. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Furnas County is not part of any metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area in the Office of Management and Budget’s July 2023 delineation; 1,306 other county equivalents are also outside one. These areas are built around an urban core of at least 10,000 people plus the counties tied to it by commuting, so counties outside them are generally rural.

ZIP codes

9 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Furnas County; 5 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

689226892668936689466894868967689776902269046

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Furnas County

Furnas County shares a land border with 7 county equivalents, including 2 in Kansas. It has more land than 4 of them. The largest neighbor is Frontier County (974.7 mi²) and the smallest is Gosper County (458.2 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Furnas County forms a block of 5,734 mi² of land, of which it holds 12.5%.

Map of Furnas County and the 7 county equivalents that border it Norton County, Kansas: 878 mi² landHarlan County, Nebraska: 553.5 mi² landRed Willow County, Nebraska: 717.2 mi² landGosper County, Nebraska: 458.2 mi² landFrontier County, Nebraska: 974.7 mi² landDecatur County, Kansas: 893.5 mi² landPhelps County, Nebraska: 539.8 mi² land
Furnas County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. FurnasCompare
Frontier County974.71.4× largerCompare
Decatur CountyKansas893.51.2× largerCompare
Norton CountyKansas8781.2× largerCompare
Red Willow County717.2about the sameCompare
Harlan County553.51.3× smallerCompare
Phelps County539.81.3× smallerCompare
Gosper County458.21.6× smallerCompare

How big is Furnas County compared with U.S. states?

Furnas County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.4 times as much. Nebraska’s county land could hold about 107 areas the size of Furnas County.

Land area: Furnas County and the closest-sized states
Furnas County719.2 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 26.8 miles (43.2 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Furnas County?

Furnas County has more land than 1,973 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Furnas County719.2 mi²
Nebraska median575.2 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Furnas County at #1,360 nationally by total area, 111 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 0.2%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 1 percentage points lower. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Furnas County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#1248Lincoln County, Kansas719.4Compare
#1249Furnas County, Nebraska719.2This county
#1250Wichita County, Kansas718.6Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 40.192252, -99.908637. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 1,862,730,826 m²; AWATER: 3,727,358 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Furnas County?

Furnas County, Nebraska has 719.2 square miles (1,862.7 km²) of land and 1.439 square miles of water, for a total area of 720.6 square miles. It ranks #1249 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Furnas County the largest county in Nebraska?

No. Furnas County ranks #34 of 93 in Nebraska by land area. The largest is Cherry County, with 5,960.1 square miles of land.

What counties border Furnas County?

Furnas County shares a land border with Norton County, Kansas, Harlan County, Red Willow County, Gosper County, Frontier County, Decatur County, Kansas, and Phelps County.

What is the population of Furnas County?

The Census Bureau estimates Furnas County had 4,524 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #2,930 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 6.3 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Furnas County?

The county seat of Furnas County is Beaver City.

What cities and towns are in Furnas County?

Furnas County has 8 incorporated places. The most populous five are Cambridge city, Arapahoe city, Oxford village, Beaver City city, and Holbrook village; 1,053 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Furnas County part of a metropolitan area?

No. Furnas County is outside every metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area in the July 2023 OMB delineation.

How many ZIP codes are in Furnas County?

9 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Furnas County, and 5 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Furnas County compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.4 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Furnas County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 460,291 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 461,212 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

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