county

Kearney County, NE

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

AI Overview

Kearney County is a small south-central Nebraska county of 6,697 residents with a heavily owner-occupied housing stock (78.4%) and low housing costs — median home values at $218,300 and gross rent at $787/month. The labor market is tight, with unemployment at just 1.4% and labor force participation at 69.9%, while 32.9% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher against median worker earnings of $43,333. The county posted modest population growth of 2.2% over five years, a poverty rate of 6.7%, and GDP per capita of $68,040 — notably above median household income of $78,631.

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

Population

6,697

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$78,631

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+2.2% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone6,185 (92.1%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race239 (3.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone165 (2.5%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races71 (1.1%)
  • Asian Alone36 (0.5%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone16 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish297
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic11
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island9
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)7

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

25.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

54.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

338

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$68,040

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$41,967

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

1.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

6.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance856
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining446
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)441
  4. 4.Manufacturing (Group)432
  5. 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities289

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,360
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations648
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations627
  4. 4.Service Occupations492
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations462

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 8.04×)462
  2. 2.Information (LQ 1.72×)116
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.33×)281
  4. 4.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.33×)110
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 1.11×)396

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$218,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$787/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

77.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999468 (21.5%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999296 (13.6%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999260 (11.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999202 (9.3%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999190 (8.7%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999126 (5.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

32.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

94.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

69.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$43,333

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

21.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

1.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone2,890 (80.9%)
  • Carpooled305 (8.5%)
  • Worked At Home285 (8.0%)
  • Walked45 (1.3%)
  • Other23 (0.6%)
  • Public Transit12 (0.3%)

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.