The Nebraska Panhandle is an area in the western part of the state of

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

and one of several U.S. state

panhandle A salient (also known as a panhandle or bootheel) is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on ...

s, or elongated geographical regions that extend from their main political entity. The Nebraska panhandle is two-thirds as broad as the rest of the state. It is approximately east to west and north to south. The Nebraska panhandle roughly encompasses the area in Nebraska between 102° and 104°W longitude and 41° and 43°N latitude. It comprises 11 counties with a combined land area of , or about 18.45 percent of the state's land. Its population as of the 2010 Census was 87,789 inhabitants, or about 4.70 percent of the state's population. Its largest city is

Scottsbluff Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, in the western part of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 14,436 at the 2020 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panha ...

, in the west-central part of the area.

Counties

Cities and towns

Major cities in the Nebraska panhandle include: * Alliance * Chadron * Kimball *

- Gering * Sidney *

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonn ...

* Hemingford

Population shifts

As part of a general trend in migration from rural to metropolitan areas, most counties in the Nebraska panhandle have seen population decreases in recent decades; however, Scotts Bluff, Dawes, and Cheyenne counties increased their populations from the years 1990 to 2000 and again from 2000 to 2010. While emigration from the Panhandle exceeds immigration, a study coordinated by the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...

surveyed and interviewed a sample of newcomers to the region in order to understand their demographic makeup and reasons for relocation. Results indicated that immigrants to the Nebraska panhandle were on average younger and had higher average incomes and educational levels than other area residents; immigrants cited a "simpler pace of life," reduced congestion, and lower costs of living among their reasons for relocation.

Points of interest

The Nebraska panhandle has a great deal of geographical and geological diversity; the region itself is made up of several smaller areas. Areas, features, and sites of interest in the Nebraska panhandle include: *

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is a U.S. National Monument near Harrison, Nebraska. The main features of the monument are a valley of the Niobrara River and the fossils found on Carnegie Hill and University Hill. The area largely consists ...

Carhenge Carhenge is a replica of England's Stonehenge located near the city of Alliance, Nebraska, in the High Plains region of the United States. Instead of being built with large standing stones, as is the case with the original Stonehenge, Carhenge i ...

* Sandhills * Chimney Rock *

Fort Robinson Fort Robinson is a former U.S. Army fort and now a major feature of Fort Robinson State Park, a public recreation and historic preservation area located west of Crawford on U.S. Route 20 in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska. The ...

* Pine Ridge *

Toadstool Geologic Park Toadstool Geologic Park is located in the Oglala National Grassland in far northwestern Nebraska. It is operated by the United States Forest Service. It contains a badlands landscape and a reconstructed sod house. The park is named after its ...

* Scotts Bluff National Monument * Wildcat Hills *

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...

The Nebraska panhandle borders the states of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

and is in the

Mountain Time Zone The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The clo ...

References

External links