Johnson 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 In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 5,290. 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 ...

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. The county was formed in 1855, and was organized in 1857. It was named after

Richard Mentor Johnson Richard Mentor Johnson (October 17, 1780 – November 19, 1850) was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the ninth vice president of the United States from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren. He is ...

, who was Vice President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. In the Nebraska license plate system, Johnson County is represented by the prefix 57 (it had the fifty-seventh-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

Geography

The terrain of Johnson County consists of low rolling hills whose flattened tops are mostly used for agriculture. The Big Nemaha River flows southeastward through the central part of the county. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest county in Nebraska by area.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 136 * N-41

Nebraska Highway 41 * N-50

Nebraska Highway 50 * N-62

Nebraska Highway 62 Nebraska Highway 62 is a highway in southeastern Nebraska. It is a discontinuous highway with two segments which combine for a length of . The west terminus of the western segment of Nebraska Highway 62 is at Nebraska Highway 50 south of Tecu ...

Adjacent counties

* Otoe County - north * Nemaha County - east * Pawnee County - south * Gage County - west * Lancaster County - northwest

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 4,488 people, 1,887 households, and 1,254 families 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 2,116 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.54%

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 ...

, 0.11%

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 ...

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 ...

, 0.40% Native American, 2.67% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 1.96% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. 2.87% 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. There were 1,887 households, out of which 29.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.50% were non-families. 29.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.92. The county population contained 24.20% under the age of 18, 5.70% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 22.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 91.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,460, and the median income for a family was $41,000. Males had a median income of $26,282 versus $20,799 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 $16,437. About 6.70% of families and 8.90% 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 10.50% of those under age 18 and 11.10% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

(county seat)

Villages

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

* Crab Orchard * Elk Creek * Sterling

Unincorporated communities

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

* Vesta

Politics

Johnson County voters have been reliably Republican for decades. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected a Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

Education

School districts include:
Text list
/ref> * Freeman Public Schools * Humboldt Table Rock Steinauer Public Schools * Johnson-Brock Public Schools * Johnson County Central Public Schools * Lewiston Consolidated Schools * Sterling Public Schools * Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca Schools The Tecumseh Public Schools school district existed until 2007.

References

{{authority control 1857 establishments in Nebraska Territory Populated places established in 1857