county

Howard County, NE

Demographic and economic profile of Howard County, NE, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Howard County is a small, agriculture-oriented Nebraska county with a population of 6,492 that saw modest growth of 1.4% over five years. The labor force participation rate stands at 66.1% with unemployment at 3.4%, and while 95.2% of residents hold a high school diploma, only 23.0% have a bachelor's degree or higher, pointing to a workforce oriented toward trades and manual occupations. Median household income of $76,767 and a poverty rate of just 5.4% reflect relative economic stability, and housing costs remain low with a median home value of $205,200 and median gross rent of $811 per month.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

6,492

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$76,767

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+1.4% since 2018

Howard County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone6,023 (92.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race241 (3.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races121 (1.9%)
  • Some Other Race Alone101 (1.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone42 (0.6%)
  • Asian Alone4 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish135
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic21
  3. 3.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic11

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

25.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

52.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

22.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

358

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$36,095

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$35,045

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

5.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance730
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)348
  3. 3.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining323
  4. 4.Manufacturing (Group)300
  5. 5.Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing292

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,161
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations608
  3. 3.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations548
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations440
  5. 5.Service Occupations425

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 6.52×)334
  2. 2.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.89×)140
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.22×)184
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.21×)227
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.19×)416

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$205,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$811/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

78.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999288 (14.7%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999277 (14.1%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999219 (11.2%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999212 (10.8%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999136 (6.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999133 (6.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

23.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

95.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

66.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$40,719

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

26.7 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone2,567 (80.8%)
  • Worked At Home272 (8.6%)
  • Carpooled202 (6.4%)
  • Other69 (2.2%)
  • Walked67 (2.1%)
  • Public Transit1 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.