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Sarpy 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 ...
located 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 census, the population was 190,604, making it the third-most populous county in Nebraska. 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 Papillion. Sarpy County is part of the
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 ...
-
Council Bluffs Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 62,799 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, te ...
, NE- IA Metropolitan Statistical Area.


History

This was part of the territory of the Omaha people. Explored in 1805 by the
Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...
expedition following the
Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...
of 1803 by the United States, this area was settled by European-American fur traders, adventurers, farmers, and finally, entrepreneurs. All initially depended on the
Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
as a main transportation corridor and source of water. Sarpy County has served as the springboard for Nebraska's settlement and expansion. The county is named for Peter Sarpy, an early fur trader at Fontenelle's Post in the Bellevue area in the 1840s. He also had Sarpy's post in what became Decatur; Sarpy died in Plattsmouth in 1865. The area of present Sarpy County was a part of Douglas County until February 1, 1857, when the Territorial Legislature partitioned off that county's southern half and proclaimed it a separate organization. The Omaha people were forced onto a reservation in the 19th century, losing most of their land to the United States who then opened it for settlement by non-Native Americans who were U.S. citizens or immigrants from certain (mostly European) countries. Fort Crook, the U.S. Army post south of Bellevue, was established in the 1890s and added Offutt Field in the 1920s. Its Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant produced over two thousand aircraft during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, including the notable B-29's '' Enola Gay'' and '' Bockscar''. Offutt Air Force Base was the headquarters of the
Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...
(SAC) during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
and continues as the home of U.S. Strategic Command. In the Nebraska license plate system, Sarpy County was represented by the
prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...
"59" (it had the 59th largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922). Many license plates issued in Sarpy County featured the stacked format of the 59 code. The county, just south 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 ...
, had grown significantly in population in the decades following 1922 and therefore required five characters rather than the four allowed by a standard double-digit county code. In 2002, the state discontinued the 1922 system in Sarpy as well as Douglas and Lancaster counties.


Geography

Sarpy County is bounded on the east by the
Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
; on the south and west by the Platte River. The county's terrain consists of low rolling hills, cut by several small gullies and drainages that move groundwater to one of these rivers. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.4%) is water. Sarpy is the smallest of Nebraska's 93 counties.


Major highways

* Interstate 80 * U.S. Highway 6 * U.S. Highway 75 * Nebraska Highway 31 * Nebraska Highway 50 * Nebraska Highway 85 * Nebraska Highway 370


Transit

* Metro Transit


Adjacent counties

* Douglas County - north * Pottawattamie County, Iowa - northeast * Mills County, Iowa - southeast * Cass County - south * Saunders County - west


Protected areas

* Chalco Hills Recreation Area * Fontenelle Forest Nature Center * Gifford Point Wildlife Management Area * Walnut Creek Lake & Recreation


Demographics


2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 190,604 people. 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 . The racial makeup of the county was 78.4%
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 ...
, 4.6% Black or
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 ...
, 0.9% Native American, 2.8% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and 3.4% from two or more races. 11.3% 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.


2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 158,835 people and 69,851 households. 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 69,023 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 89.0%
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 ...
, 4.4% Black or
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 ...
, 0.7% Native American, 2.60% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and 3.20% from two or more races . 9.4% 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.


2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 122,595 people, 43,426 households, and 33,220 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 44,981 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 89.18%
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 ...
, 4.36%
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 ...
, 0.42% Native American, 1.90% Asian, 0.09%
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 ...
, 1.86% from other races, and 2.20% from two or more races. 4.37% 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 43,426 households, out of which 43.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.80% 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, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.50% were non-families. 18.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.21. The county population contained 30.50% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 33.80% from 25 to 44, 19.70% from 45 to 64, and 6.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 98.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $53,804, and the median income for a family was $59,723. Males had a median income of $37,230 versus $26,816 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 $21,985. About 3.10% of families and 4.20% 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 5.30% of those under age 18 and 3.30% of those age 65 or over.


Government and infrastructure

The Sarpy County Sheriff's Department is responsible for enforcing the law within the unincorporated areas of the county. By contract, the department is also responsible for enforcing the law within the city limits of Gretna and Springfield. The cities of Bellevue, La Vista, and Papillion have their own city
Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
Departments which are primarily responsible for law enforcement within their respective city limits. The Sheriff's Department has secondary responsibility for law enforcement within these three cities, providing essentials such as backup support. The Sarpy County Law Enforcement Center, built in 1989, is located within the campus of the Sarpy County
Courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...
in Papillion. It houses the county's jail facility and the Sarpy County Public Defender's Office. The Bellevue and LaVista City Police Departments also have their own holding cells. The county jail was designed to hold 148 people, but the facility frequently holds more than that number. Fire protection and emergency medical services are provided by a mix of seven full-career, part-time paid, military, and all-volunteer fire departments, representing various municipalities within the county, plus Offutt Air Force Base.


Politics

Sarpy County voters have generally voted Republican in national politics. In only one national election since 1948 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2020). Since 1964, only three Democrats -
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
in 2008,
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
in 2020, and
Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
in 2024 have received at least 40 percent of the county's vote. From 1968 to 2016, Republicans always carried Sarpy County by at least 21 points with the exception of a slight drop to 16 points in 2008. However, in 2020, Republican candidate
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
beat Biden only by 11 points, a 92-year low for a winning Republican candidate. In 2024, Sarpy County very narrowly voted for Dan Osborn, an Independent, over incumbent Republican Senator Deb Fischer in the 2024 Senate race; no Democrat filed for this race. Kamala Harris also garnered the highest share of the vote for a Democratic Presidental candidate since the county voted for Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. This county was the only one in Nebraska to vote for both Initiative 434 and Initiative 439 in 2024. Those two initiatives dealt with abortion and were contradictory to each other, with the former restricting abortion after the first trimester and the latter intending to protect abortion access through fetal viability. As of December 2020, Republicans hold a plurality in the county voter registration.


Communities


Cities

* Bellevue * Gretna * La Vista * Papillion (county seat) * Springfield


Census-designated places

* Beacon View * Chalco * La Platte * Linoma Beach * Melia * Offutt AFB * Richfield


Other unincorporated communities

* Avery * Gilmore *
Meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...
* Portal


Census divisions

Sarpy County is divided into the following divisions, called precincts, except for the City of Bellevue. * City of Bellevue * Bellevue Second I * Bellevue Second II * Bellevue Second III * Bellevue Second IV * Fairview * Forest City No. 1 * Forest City No. 2 * Gilmore I * Gilmore II * Highland I * Highland II * LaPlatte I * LaPlatte II * La Vista * Melia-Forest City * Papillion * Papillion Second I * Papillion Second II * Platford-Springfield I * Platford-Springfield II * Richland I * Richland II * Richland III * Richland IV * Richland V * Richland VI * Richland VII * Richland VIII * Springfield


Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Sarpy County. † ''county seat''


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Sarpy County, Nebraska __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Sarpy County, Nebraska. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Sarpy County, Nebrask ...


References


External links


Sarpy County Nebraska Website

Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce

Sarpy County Museum

Sarpy County Tourism
{{Authority control Nebraska counties on the Missouri River 1857 establishments in Nebraska Territory Populated places established in 1857