Dawson County, Nebraska
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Dawson County is a
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in the U.S. state of
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 24,111. Its
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
is Lexington. Dawson County is part of the Lexington, NE Micropolitan Statistical Area. In the Nebraska license plate system, Dawson County is represented by the prefix 18 (it had the 18th-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).


History

Dawson County was established by the territorial legislature in 1860; it officially became a county in 1871 by proclamation of acting Governor William James. The county website states that the county was named for Jacob Dawson, the first postmaster in the settlement of Lancaster County, Nebraska. Other sources state that it was named after Pennsylvania Congressman John Littleton Dawson.


Geography

Dawson County lies near the center of Nebraska, in the portion of the state that observes Central Time. According to the
US Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
, the county has an area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water.


Major highways

* Interstate 80 * U.S. Highway 30 * U.S. Highway 283 * Nebraska Highway 21 * Nebraska Highway 23 * Nebraska Highway 40 * Nebraska Highway 47


Transit

* Burlington Trailways * Express Arrow


Protected areas

* Bitterns Call State Wildlife Management Area * Dogwood State Wildlife Management Area * East Willow Island State Wildlife Management Area * Gallagher Canyon State Recreation Area


Adjacent counties

* Buffalo County – east * Phelps County – southeast * Gosper County – south * Frontier County – southwest * Lincoln County – west * Custer County – north


Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 24,111 people and 8,965 households in the county. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 10,341 housing units. The racial makeup of the county was 72.7%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 5.5%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 2.5% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.3%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 28.7% from other races, and 10.4% from two or more races. 35.8% of the population were
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race. In the 2000 United States Census it was reported that 32.0% were of German, 6.7% American, 6.7% Irish and 6.4% English ancestry. There were 8,965 households, out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.80% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 24.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.21. The county population contained 29.20% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 27.60% from 25 to 44, 20.70% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,132, and the median income for a family was $42,224. Males had a median income of $26,865 versus $20,569 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the county was $15,973. About 8.60% of families and 10.80% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 14.20% of those under age 18 and 9.20% of those age 65 or over.


Communities


Cities

* Cozad *
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
* Lexington (county seat)


Villages

* Eddyville * Farnam * Overton * Sumner


Census-designated place

* Willow Island


Unincorporated communities

* Buffalo * Darr * Josselyn


Politics


See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Dawson County, Nebraska Robert Henri Museum in Cozad


References


External links


Dawson County Sheriff's Office
{{authority control Nebraska counties Lexington Micropolitan Statistical Area 1871 establishments in Nebraska Populated places established in 1871