county

Dawes County, NE

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

AI Overview

Dawes County is a small rural Nebraska county of 8,212 residents with a relatively educated workforce—35.2% hold a bachelor's degree or higher and 95.7% have a high school diploma—alongside an unemployment rate of just 1.5% and a mean commute of 15.6 minutes. Median household income stands at $56,280, with median worker earnings of $25,530 and a median home value of $146,500, reflecting a low-cost operating environment. The county has seen a population decline of 7.7% over five years, and a labor force participation rate of 62.5% points to a constrained available worker pool in an already small market.

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

Population

8,212

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$56,280

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

35.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-7.7% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone7,103 (87.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races356 (4.4%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone282 (3.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race272 (3.3%)
  • Asian Alone89 (1.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone38 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish122
  2. 2.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic29
  3. 3.Korean25
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)21
  5. 5.Arabic20

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

62.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

365

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$34,942

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$29,623

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

1.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,652
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)467
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services381
  4. 4.Public Administration (Group)360
  5. 5.Other Services, Except Public Administration (Group)247

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,714
  2. 2.Service Occupations957
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations731
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations536
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations326

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 5.69×)387
  2. 2.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.80×)1,799
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.38×)279
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 0.97×)364
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 0.94×)188

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$146,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,014/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

61.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999344 (16.1%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999235 (11.0%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999197 (9.2%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999170 (8.0%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999154 (7.2%)
  • $90,000 to $99,999139 (6.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

35.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

95.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

62.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$25,530

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

15.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

3.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone3,047 (72.4%)
  • Carpooled439 (10.4%)
  • Walked347 (8.2%)
  • Worked At Home325 (7.7%)
  • Other36 (0.9%)
  • Bicycle11 (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.