Lincoln County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the U.S. 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,676. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

North Platte North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. Despite the county's name, the state capital city of Lincoln is not in or near Lincoln County. The city of Lincoln is, instead, located in Lancaster County. Lincoln County is part of the North Platte, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. In the Nebraska license plate system, Lincoln County is represented by the prefix 15 (it had the fifteenth-largest number of vehicles registered for a state county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

Geography

The terrain of Lincoln County consists of low rolling hills cut by gullies, sloping to the east-southeast. The land is generally given to agriculture, with considerable center pivot irrigation employed. The

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 ...

flows eastward through the upper center of the county. Likewise, the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/Mountain West. It ...

flows eastward through the lower center of the county to its junction with North Platte in eastern Lincoln County, to form the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itsel ...

which flows ESE out of the county. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water. It is the third-largest county in Nebraska by area. Most of Nebraska's 93 counties (the eastern 2/3, including Lincoln County) observe

Central Time Central Time may refer to: * Central Time Zone, a time zone in North America * Central European Time, a time zone in Europe *Australian Central Time, a time zone in Australia (see Time in Australia Australia uses three main time zones: Austra ...

; the western counties observe Mountain Time. Lincoln County is the westernmost of the Nebraska counties to observe Central Time.

Major highways

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one ...

U.S. Highway 30 * US 83

U.S. Highway 83 U.S. Route 83 (US 83) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that extends in the central United States. Only four other north–south routes are longer: US 1, US 41, US 59, and US 87, while US ...

Nebraska Highway 23 * N-25

Nebraska Highway 25 * N-97

Nebraska Highway 97

Adjacent counties

* McPherson County – northwest * Logan County – northeast * Custer County – east * Dawson County – east * Frontier County – southeast * Hayes County – southwest * Perkins County – west (boundary of Mountain Time) * Keith County – west (boundary of Mountain Time)

Protected areas

* Birdwood Lake State Wildlife Management Area * East Hershey State Wildlife Management Area * East Sutherland State Wildlife Management Area * Fort McPherson National Cemetery * Jeffrey Canyon State Wildlife Management Area * Maloney Reservoir State Recreation Area * Muskrat Run State Wildlife Management Area * Platte State Wildlife Management Area * Sutherland Reservoir State Recreation Area

Demographics

As of the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 c ...

there were 34,632 people, 14,076 households, and 9,444 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 14 people per square mile (5/km²). There are 15,438 housing units in Lincoln. (6/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 94.70%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.54%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.51% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 2.65% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. 5.43% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. There were 14,076 households, out of which 32.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.90% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.90% were non-families. 28.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.97. The county population contained 26.20% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 26.60% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,568, and the median income for a family was $45,185. Males had a median income of $36,244 versus $20,252 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $18,696. About 7.20% of families and 9.70% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 12.10% of those under age 18 and 9.30% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

(county seat)

Villages

* Brady * Hershey *

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of ...

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later c ...

Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...

* Wellfleet

Unincorporated communities

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

Politics

Lincoln County voters generally vote Republican. In only three national elections since 1916 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate, most recently in 1964 in the midst of Lyndon B. Johnson's national landslide victory.

References

{{Coord, 41.05, -100.75, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-NE_source:UScensus1990 Lincoln County, NE

North Platte Micropolitan Statistical Area 1866 establishments in Nebraska Territory Populated places established in 1866