county

Merrick County, NE

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

AI Overview

Merrick County is a small, agriculturally oriented Nebraska county with a population of 7,696 that has contracted by 1.4% over the past five years. The labor force is tight—unemployment sits at just 0.6%—with 66.2% labor force participation, median worker earnings of $40,612, and 17.6% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $168,000 and median rent of $772/month, and an 82.2% homeownership rate reflects a predominantly settled, owner-occupant population with a median age of 43.2.

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

Population

7,696

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$68,354

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-1.4% since 2018

Merrick County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone7,114 (92.1%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races236 (3.1%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race212 (2.7%)
  • Some Other Race Alone80 (1.0%)
  • Asian Alone57 (0.7%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone25 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish233
  2. 2.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic28
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island14
  4. 4.Other Indo-European13
  5. 5.Korean11

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

55.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

21.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

483

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$52,946

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,539

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

0.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

8.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance960
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)440
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)422
  4. 4.Construction (Group)378
  5. 5.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining329

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,665
  2. 2.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations655
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations641
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations564
  5. 5.Service Occupations551

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 5.96×)385
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.67×)320
  3. 3.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.22×)114
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.15×)322
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 1.09×)441

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$168,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$772/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

82.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,999338 (12.8%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999310 (11.8%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999270 (10.3%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999251 (9.5%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999249 (9.5%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999184 (7.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

17.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

92.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

66.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$40,612

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

21.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

2.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone3,224 (82.0%)
  • Carpooled327 (8.3%)
  • Worked At Home233 (5.9%)
  • Walked133 (3.4%)
  • Other13 (0.3%)
  • Public Transit2 (0.1%)

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.