County facts · Land area · October 22, 2026
Largest Counties in Nebraska by Area and Population
The largest Nebraska counties by land area and by 2023 population, plus the smallest, county seats and a link to each official parcel map.
Looking for the largest counties in Nebraska? Nebraska has 93 counties covering about 76,818 square miles of land, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. The largest by land area is Cherry County, at about 5,960 square miles, roughly 25 times the size of the smallest, Sarpy County (238 sq mi). Measured by people instead, the largest is Douglas County, with about 589,540 residents in the Census Bureau's July 1, 2023 estimate.
The tables below rank the counties both ways. Each row links to the county's Platbookmapper page and straight to its official parcel viewer.
Nebraska counties at a glance
- Counties: 93
- Land area: about 76,818 sq mi, plus about 529 sq mi of water inside county lines
- Residents, 2023 estimates: about 1,978,379, or about 26 people per square mile of land
- Median county land area: about 575 sq mi
- With a verified public parcel viewer in our directory: 93 of 93
The 10 largest Nebraska counties by land area
| # | County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | People per sq mi | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cherry County | Valentine | 5,960 | 5,492 | 0.9 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| 2 | Custer County | Broken Bow | 2,576 | 10,581 | 4.1 | gWorks |
| 3 | Lincoln County | North Platte | 2,564 | 33,365 | 13 | gWorks |
| 4 | Sheridan County | Rushville | 2,441 | 4,928 | 2.0 | gWorks |
| 5 | Holt County | O'Neill | 2,412 | 10,093 | 4.2 | CAMAvision Maps |
| 6 | Sioux County | Harrison | 2,067 | 1,154 | 0.6 | gWorks |
| 7 | Garden County | Oshkosh | 1,705 | 1,794 | 1.1 | gWorks |
| 8 | Morrill County | Bridgeport | 1,424 | 4,504 | 3.2 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 9 | Dawes County | Chadron | 1,396 | 8,133 | 5.8 | gWorks |
| 10 | Brown County | Ainsworth | 1,221 | 2,853 | 2.3 | gWorks |
Together these 10 cover about 31% of Nebraska's land area and hold about 4% of its residents.
The 10 most populous Nebraska counties
| # | County | Seat | 2023 pop. | Land (sq mi) | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Douglas County | Omaha | 589,540 | 326 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 2 | Lancaster County | Lincoln | 326,716 | 838 | county web map |
| 3 | Sarpy County | Papillion | 199,886 | 238 | county web map |
| 4 | Hall County | Grand Island | 62,197 | 546 | county web map |
| 5 | Buffalo County | Kearney | 50,697 | 968 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 6 | Dodge County | Fremont | 37,187 | 529 | gWorks |
| 7 | Scotts Bluff County | Gering | 35,699 | 740 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| 8 | Madison County | Madison | 35,627 | 573 | gWorks |
| 9 | Platte County | Columbus | 34,609 | 674 | gWorks |
| 10 | Lincoln County | North Platte | 33,365 | 2,564 | gWorks |
These 10 hold about 71% of Nebraska's residents in the 2023 estimates.
The 5 smallest Nebraska counties by land area
| County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarpy County | Papillion | 238 | 199,886 | county web map |
| Dakota County | Dakota City | 264 | 21,268 | gWorks |
| Douglas County | Omaha | 326 | 589,540 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
| Johnson County | Tecumseh | 376 | 5,198 | gWorks |
| Washington County | Blair | 390 | 21,152 | Beacon (Schneider Geospatial) |
Most and least crowded
- Most people per square mile: Douglas County, about 1,806 (then Sarpy County, 840, and Lancaster County, 390)
- Fewest people per square mile: McPherson County, about 0.4 (then Sioux County, 0.6, and Arthur County, 0.6)
Counties with the most water
The Census Bureau reports water separately from land. It counts lakes, reservoirs, rivers and, along a coast or a Great Lake, the water inside the boundary.
- Cherry County: about 49 sq mi of water, 1% of its total area
- Keith County: about 48 sq mi of water, 4% of its total area
- Knox County: about 31 sq mi of water, 3% of its total area
Using these numbers in a land search
- Land area is not parcel count. A large rural county can hold fewer parcels than a small suburban one, so size alone says little about how busy its parcel map is.
- Search, don't scroll. In a big county, type an address, owner name or parcel number into the viewer's search box, where it has one, instead of panning across the map.
- Records follow the county line. Deeds, plats and tax bills are kept by the county where the parcel sits, so a tract that crosses a county line usually has a parcel number on each side.
- Rounded figures. Land and water areas are rounded to whole square miles (one decimal for very small places). People per square mile is the 2023 estimate divided by land area.
Related guides
- Nebraska county GIS websites by viewer
- Nebraska landowner maps for hunting
- Map of Nebraska counties
- Iowa–Nebraska border counties
- Kansas–Nebraska border counties
- Nebraska–South Dakota border counties
- Largest county in each state
- Largest counties in the US by land area
More: All Nebraska counties on Platbookmapper
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer files, 2020 county land and water area.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, county totals, Vintage 2023 (July 1, 2023 estimates)
- Platbookmapper county GIS directory (live data file behind our county pages, pulled October 22, 2026) for each official parcel viewer.
- County seats: Wikidata (county seat property), cross-checked against Census place names.