NE · 2026 Census Gazetteer

Nebraska counties by area

Official, comparable measurements for 93 counties and county equivalents.

Source fields preservedGEOID · ALAND · AWATER

County equivalents93

Combined land76,815.3 mi²

Combined water532.1 mi²

Largest by landCherry County

Understanding Nebraska’s county areas

The land-area range runs from Sarpy County at 238 mi² to Cherry County at 5,960.1 mi². The largest has 25 times the land area of the smallest and accounts for 7.8% of the combined county land in Nebraska.

The median county-equivalent land area is 575.2 mi², below the national median of 604.5 mi². The median describes the middle of the county size distribution; it does not describe how people or development are distributed. A state with a few very large counties can have a much smaller median than its largest entry suggests.

Where water changes the picture

Cherry County has the most assigned water area, at 49.5 mi². Keith County has the highest water share, with water making up 4.3% of its total area. Water area and water percentage answer different questions: the first measures an amount, while the second measures the mix of land and water.

Across all 93 entries, water accounts for 0.7% of the combined total area. This is calculated from the summed land and water measurements, rather than averaging county percentages, which would give each small and large county equal weight.

Compare the largest and smallest county equivalents in Nebraska to see land, water, and total area on the same scale.

These calculations use the 2026 Census county records listed below. County-equivalent boundaries vary between states; area alone does not measure population, density, or usable land. See coverage and calculation rules.

Complete area table

Sorted from largest to smallest land area.

#	County / equivalent	Land	Water	Water share
1	Cherry CountyGEOID 31031	5,960.1 mi²	49.5 mi²	0.8%
2	Custer CountyGEOID 31041	2,575.5 mi²	0.5 mi²	0%
3	Lincoln CountyGEOID 31111	2,564.2 mi²	11 mi²	0.4%
4	Sheridan CountyGEOID 31161	2,440.2 mi²	29.6 mi²	1.2%
5	Holt CountyGEOID 31089	2,411.9 mi²	5.6 mi²	0.2%
6	Sioux CountyGEOID 31165	2,066.7 mi²	0.6 mi²	0%
7	Garden CountyGEOID 31069	1,704.8 mi²	26 mi²	1.5%
8	Morrill CountyGEOID 31123	1,423.7 mi²	6.4 mi²	0.4%
9	Dawes CountyGEOID 31045	1,396.4 mi²	4.5 mi²	0.3%
10	Brown CountyGEOID 31017	1,221.4 mi²	3.7 mi²	0.3%
11	Cheyenne CountyGEOID 31033	1,196 mi²	0.1 mi²	0%
12	Knox CountyGEOID 31107	1,108.2 mi²	31.5 mi²	2.8%
13	Box Butte CountyGEOID 31013	1,075.2 mi²	2.7 mi²	0.2%
14	Keith CountyGEOID 31101	1,062.1 mi²	47.8 mi²	4.3%
15	Dawson CountyGEOID 31047	1,013.8 mi²	5.6 mi²	0.6%
16	Rock CountyGEOID 31149	1,008.3 mi²	3.4 mi²	0.3%
17	Frontier CountyGEOID 31063	974.7 mi²	5.4 mi²	0.6%
18	Buffalo CountyGEOID 31019	968.2 mi²	7.2 mi²	0.7%
19	Kimball CountyGEOID 31105	951.9 mi²	0.6 mi²	0.1%
20	Dundy CountyGEOID 31057	919.7 mi²	1.2 mi²	0.1%
21	Chase CountyGEOID 31029	894.4 mi²	3.1 mi²	0.3%
22	Perkins CountyGEOID 31135	883.3 mi²	1.1 mi²	0.1%
23	McPherson CountyGEOID 31117	859.3 mi²	1 mi²	0.1%
24	Antelope CountyGEOID 31003	857.2 mi²	1.4 mi²	0.2%
25	Gage CountyGEOID 31067	851.5 mi²	8.5 mi²	1%
26	Lancaster CountyGEOID 31109	837.6 mi²	8.8 mi²	1%
27	Grant CountyGEOID 31075	776.7 mi²	6.7 mi²	0.9%
28	Keya Paha CountyGEOID 31103	772.9 mi²	1 mi²	0.1%
29	Saunders CountyGEOID 31155	748.7 mi²	11.1 mi²	1.5%
30	Banner CountyGEOID 31007	746 mi²	0.2 mi²	0%
31	Cedar CountyGEOID 31027	740.2 mi²	5.7 mi²	0.8%
32	Scotts Bluff CountyGEOID 31157	739.6 mi²	5.9 mi²	0.8%
33	Hooker CountyGEOID 31091	721 mi²	0.5 mi²	0.1%
34	Furnas CountyGEOID 31065	719.2 mi²	1.4 mi²	0.2%
35	Red Willow CountyGEOID 31145	717.2 mi²	0.8 mi²	0.1%
36	Arthur CountyGEOID 31005	715.2 mi²	3 mi²	0.4%
37	Hayes CountyGEOID 31085	713.1 mi²	0.2 mi²	0%
38	Thomas CountyGEOID 31171	712.6 mi²	0.8 mi²	0.1%
39	Blaine CountyGEOID 31009	710.7 mi²	3.6 mi²	0.5%
40	Hitchcock CountyGEOID 31087	710 mi²	8.5 mi²	1.2%
41	Boone CountyGEOID 31011	686.5 mi²	0.7 mi²	0.1%
42	Platte CountyGEOID 31141	675.2 mi²	9.4 mi²	1.4%
43	Otoe CountyGEOID 31131	615.6 mi²	3.4 mi²	0.5%
44	Butler CountyGEOID 31023	584.8 mi²	6 mi²	1%
45	Franklin CountyGEOID 31061	575.8 mi²	0.2 mi²	0%
46	Fillmore CountyGEOID 31059	575.4 mi²	1.2 mi²	0.2%
47	Wheeler CountyGEOID 31183	575.2 mi²	0.4 mi²	0.1%
48	Nuckolls CountyGEOID 31129	575.2 mi²	0.7 mi²	0.1%
49	Webster CountyGEOID 31181	574.9 mi²	0.1 mi²	0%
50	Saline CountyGEOID 31151	574.1 mi²	2.2 mi²	0.4%
51	Thayer CountyGEOID 31169	573.8 mi²	1.2 mi²	0.2%
52	Pierce CountyGEOID 31139	573.2 mi²	1.3 mi²	0.2%
53	Madison CountyGEOID 31119	572.6 mi²	2.8 mi²	0.5%
54	York CountyGEOID 31185	572.5 mi²	3.3 mi²	0.6%
55	Clay CountyGEOID 31035	572.3 mi²	1.2 mi²	0.2%
56	Seward CountyGEOID 31159	571.4 mi²	4.5 mi²	0.8%
57	Logan CountyGEOID 31113	570.7 mi²	0.5 mi²	0.1%
58	Cuming CountyGEOID 31039	570.5 mi²	4.2 mi²	0.7%
59	Jefferson CountyGEOID 31095	570.2 mi²	5.5 mi²	1%
60	Greeley CountyGEOID 31077	569.8 mi²	0.8 mi²	0.1%
61	Garfield CountyGEOID 31071	569.4 mi²	2 mi²	0.4%
62	Howard CountyGEOID 31093	569.3 mi²	6.3 mi²	1.1%
63	Valley CountyGEOID 31175	568.1 mi²	2.4 mi²	0.4%
64	Sherman CountyGEOID 31163	565.9 mi²	5.8 mi²	1%
65	Loup CountyGEOID 31115	563.3 mi²	7.7 mi²	1.4%
66	Adams CountyGEOID 31001	563.3 mi²	1 mi²	0.2%
67	Cass CountyGEOID 31025	556.9 mi²	9 mi²	1.6%
68	Harlan CountyGEOID 31083	553.5 mi²	20.6 mi²	3.6%
69	Richardson CountyGEOID 31147	551.8 mi²	2.7 mi²	0.5%
70	Hall CountyGEOID 31079	546.5 mi²	5.6 mi²	1%
71	Hamilton CountyGEOID 31081	542 mi²	2.7 mi²	0.5%
72	Phelps CountyGEOID 31137	539.8 mi²	0.7 mi²	0.1%
73	Boyd CountyGEOID 31015	539.4 mi²	5.2 mi²	0.9%
74	Dodge CountyGEOID 31053	528.8 mi²	14.2 mi²	2.6%
75	Kearney CountyGEOID 31099	516.2 mi²	0.2 mi²	0%
76	Burt CountyGEOID 31021	491.6 mi²	5.5 mi²	1.1%
77	Merrick CountyGEOID 31121	487.8 mi²	9 mi²	1.8%
78	Dixon CountyGEOID 31051	475.6 mi²	7.1 mi²	1.5%
79	Gosper CountyGEOID 31073	458.2 mi²	4.5 mi²	1%
80	Wayne CountyGEOID 31179	442.9 mi²	0.4 mi²	0.1%
81	Nance CountyGEOID 31125	441.6 mi²	6.6 mi²	1.5%
82	Deuel CountyGEOID 31049	439.8 mi²	0.9 mi²	0.2%
83	Polk CountyGEOID 31143	438.8 mi²	1.8 mi²	0.4%
84	Pawnee CountyGEOID 31133	431.1 mi²	1.9 mi²	0.4%
85	Stanton CountyGEOID 31167	427.6 mi²	3.4 mi²	0.8%
86	Colfax CountyGEOID 31037	411.5 mi²	5.1 mi²	1.2%
87	Nemaha CountyGEOID 31127	407.3 mi²	2.3 mi²	0.6%
88	Thurston CountyGEOID 31173	393.6 mi²	2.5 mi²	0.6%
89	Washington CountyGEOID 31177	389.9 mi²	3.3 mi²	0.8%
90	Johnson CountyGEOID 31097	376.1 mi²	0.6 mi²	0.2%
91	Douglas CountyGEOID 31055	326.5 mi²	12.8 mi²	3.8%
92	Dakota CountyGEOID 31043	264.4 mi²	3 mi²	1.1%
93	Sarpy CountyGEOID 31153	238 mi²	9.5 mi²	3.8%

How to read this table. Land and water areas are Census statistical measurements in square miles. Adding county rows can differ slightly from separately published state totals because of rounding and geographic treatment.