county

Valley County, NE

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

AI Overview

Valley County is a small, agriculture-oriented Nebraska county with a population of 4,094 and an unemployment rate of just 0.4%, pointing to a near-fully employed but limited labor pool. The workforce skews older, with a median age of 46.1 years, and 27.6% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while median worker earnings of $37,323 and a median home value of $122,200 reflect a low-cost operating environment. Population has contracted 3.1% over five years, though GDP per capita of $73,038 running well above median household income of $61,852 suggests meaningful output relative to the county's size.

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

Population

4,094

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$61,852

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

46.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-3.1% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone3,876 (95.3%)
  • Some Other Race Alone91 (2.2%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races44 (1.1%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone42 (1.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone7 (0.2%)
  • Asian Alone6 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish60
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic22
  3. 3.Arabic22
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic12
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)4

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

52.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

24.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

174

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$73,038

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$38,033

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

0.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

9.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance389
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining385
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)324
  4. 4.Manufacturing (Group)176
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services144

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations790
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations421
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations329
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations314
  5. 5.Service Occupations261

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 11.21×)374
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.34×)132
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.16×)263
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 0.89×)109
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 0.85×)414

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$122,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$616/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

73.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999182 (13.7%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999164 (12.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,99996 (7.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,99981 (6.1%)
  • $500,000 to $749,99978 (5.9%)
  • $60,000 to $69,99973 (5.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

27.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

94.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

63.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,323

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

18.0 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone1,703 (82.7%)
  • Carpooled177 (8.6%)
  • Worked At Home103 (5.0%)
  • Walked63 (3.1%)
  • Other13 (0.6%)
  • Public Transit0 (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.