Papillion is a city in and the county seat of
Sarpy County, Nebraska, United States. The city developed in the 1870s as a railroad town and suburb of
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
.
The city is part of the
larger five-county metro area of
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
. Papillion's population was 24,159 at the
2020 census, making it the
7th most populous city in Nebraska. Its growth since the late 20th century has reflected Omaha's.
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
and
Meta Platforms have several
data centers in Papillion.
Description
The city was part of territory claimed by France through the eighteenth century. Early French explorers named it after the creek of the same name which flows through its center. The name Papillion is derived from the
French term (''papillon'') for
butterfly
Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
. According to local tradition, the explorers named the creek ''Papillon'' because they saw so many butterflies along its grassy banks. The spelling was changed through a transliteration of the French word.
Papillion was
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
ted in 1870 when the railroad was extended to that point. Papillion (sometimes referred to as "Papio" by its residents) is one of the last of the late 19th-century, Paris-inspired frontier cities left in the
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
.
Halleck Park, a recreation area in the heart of the city, includes many trails, open spaces, trees and a number of areas of interest, including Papio Fun Park, Papio Bay Aquatic Park, Papio Pool, and Papio Bowl. The park also offers tennis courts, volleyball courts, playgrounds, "The Duck Pond", Monarch Field ("The Pit"), and E.A. Fricke Field.
It also has nine other softball diamonds within the park for youth. The diamonds are sited on three fields: Halleck, Blonde, and Papio Bay. Village Park, Papio Bay Aquatic Center (including two water slides and a zero depth pool) and Walnut Creek recreational park are among the other recreational amenities in the city.
Papillion Middle School is in the downtown area south of Papio Creek; the building formerly was used as the high school until August 1971. The former junior high was located directly west, across the street.
Also downtown are the Old A.W. Clarke banking house, Sump Memorial Library, Portal One-Room School House, Papillion Municipal Building (Sarpy County Courthouse until 1970), and the John Sautter House. Other areas of interest in Papillion include the Sarpy County Court House and Jail, Shadow Lake Towne Center, and Midlands Hospital, all along
Nebraska Highway 370 in the southern portion of the city.
Papillion has a
Triple-A Minor League Baseball
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
team.
Werner Park
Werner Park is a Minor League Baseball, minor league ballpark in eastern Nebraska, the home of the Omaha Storm Chasers (the Triple-A (baseball), Triple A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals) and USL League One professional so ...
, located west of the city on Highway 370 in unincorporated Sarpy County, opened in 2011 as the new home of the
Omaha Storm Chasers of the
Pacific Coast League. The Storm Chasers were formerly the Omaha Royals; after 42 years at
Rosenblatt Stadium in south Omaha, the team moved out following the 2010 season and changed their nickname. They have been the only
Triple-A affiliate of the
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...
, an
expansion club that entered the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
in 1969. In conjunction with
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Storm Chasers were placed into the new
Triple-A East.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Climate
Demographics
2020 census
The
2020 United States census counted 24,159 people, 8,934 households, and 6,508 families in Papillion. The population density was 2,014.9 per square mile (777.8/km). There were 9,214 housing units at an average density of 768.5 per square mile (296.7/km). The racial makeup was 84.65% (20,451)
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 ...
, 3.17% (766)
black or African-American, 0.46% (112)
Native American, 1.65% (398)
Asian, 0.06% (15)
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 ...
, 2.16% (521) from
other races, and 7.85% (1,896) from two or more races.
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 was 6.0% (1,659) of the population.
Of the 8,934 households, 31.9% had children under the age of 18; 60.9% were married couples living together; 22.9% had a female householder with no husband present. 23.2% of households consisted of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.7 and the average family size was 3.1.
25.0% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.5 years. For every 100 females, the population had 99.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older, there were 95.7 males.
The 2016-2020 5-year
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
estimates show that the median household income was $90,000 (with a margin of error of +/- $5,784) and the median family income $107,942 (+/- $7,167). Males had a median income of $50,140 (+/- $5,121) versus $34,647 (+/- $3,077) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $40,496 (+/- $2,017). Approximately, 2.9% of families and 4.0% 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 4.3% of those under the age of 18 and 5.5% of those ages 65 or over.
2010 census
As of the 2010 census,
there were 18,894 people, 6,925 households, and 5,079 families living in the city. 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 7,240 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 90.7%
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 ...
, 3.3%
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 ...
, 0.4%
Native American, 1.5%
Asian, 1.5% from
other races, and 2.7% from two or more races.
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 people of any race were 5.2% of the population.
There were 6,925 households, of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.5% were
married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 26.7% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.15.
The median age in the city was 36.8 years. 27.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.3% were from 25 to 44; 28.5% were from 45 to 64; and 11% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.8% male and 51.2% female.
Politics
Papillion is divided into four wards, with two
councilmembers elected from each. One seat for each ward is up for election every two years, with each term lasting four years. The
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
is the head of the
city council and is elected
at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
to four-year terms. The council meets every two weeks. Following former Mayor James Blinn's resignation on July 7, 2009, city council president David Black succeeded to become mayor of Papillion. He was elected in 2010 for his first full term; as of October 2022, he had been mayor for 13 years, running unopposed in the 2022 election cycle.
Schools
Papillion is part of the
Papillion-La Vista Public School District, which includes two
high schools, three
middle schools and fifteen public
elementary schools.
Papillion-La Vista South High School, the newer of the two high schools, opened in 2003. It is located in southwest Papillion while
Papillion-La Vista High School, opened in 1876, is located in the northern part of the city close to the LaVista border. The school district has well over 8,000 students and is one of the fastest-growing districts in Nebraska.
Papillion was home to
Nebraska Christian College, accredited by the
Association for Biblical Higher Education. The college was closed in 2020.
Transportation
Transit service to the city is provided by
Metro Transit. Route 93 serves the city on weekdays.
Notable people
*
Jordy Bahl, softball player
*
Abbie Cobb, actress and author
*
Brandon Curran, soccer defender
*
Merle Curti, historian
*
Cade Johnson, football wide receiver
*
Alonzo Martinez, mixed martial artist
*
Chris Petersen, guitarist
*
Amber Rolfzen, volleyball player
*
Becca Swanson, powerlifter and wrestler
*
Allison Weston, volleyball player
See also
*
List of municipalities in Nebraska
References
External links
*
{{authority control
1870 establishments in Nebraska
Cities in Nebraska
Cities in Sarpy County, Nebraska
County seats in Nebraska
French-American history of Nebraska
History of Omaha, Nebraska by community area
Populated places established in 1870