Thayer 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 5,034. 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 ...

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

. The county was created in 1856 and originally named Jefferson County. It was organized in 1870-1871 and renamed for General and Governor John Milton Thayer. In the Nebraska license plate system, Thayer County is represented by the prefix 32 (it had the thirty-second-largest number of vehicles registered in the state when the license plate system was established in 1922).

Geography

Thayer County lies on the south line of Nebraska. Its south boundary line abuts the north boundary line of the state of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Its terrain consists of rolling hills, sloped toward the east. A local drainage, Big Sandy Creek, flows southeast and east through the northern part of the county, and another drainage, Rose Creek, flows northeastward through the SE corner of the county (they converge east of Thayer County's east boundary line). The planar portions of the terrain are partially used for agriculture. Thayer County has an area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 81 * US 136

U.S. Highway 136 * N-4

Nebraska Highway 4 * N-5

Nebraska Highway 5 * N-8

Nebraska Highway 8 * N-53

Nebraska Highway 53

Adjacent counties

* Saline County – northeast * Jefferson County – east *

Washington County, Kansas Washington County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and largest city is Washington, Kansas, Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county population was 5,530. ...

– southeast * Republic County, Kansas – south * Nuckolls County – west * Fillmore County – north

Protected areas

* Prairie Marsh State Wildlife Management Area * Prairie Marsh West State Wildlife Management Area

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 6,055 people, 2,541 households, and 1,689 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 2,828 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.70%

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 ...

, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.33% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races. 1.01% 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 2,541 households, out of which 27.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.80% 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, 5.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.50% were non-families. 31.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.90. The county population contained 24.10% under the age of 18, 4.90% from 18 to 24, 22.30% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 24.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 95.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,740, and the median income for a family was $38,346. Males had a median income of $26,964 versus $18,275 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 $17,043. About 7.60% of families and 10.70% 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 14.80% of those under age 18 and 11.00% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Deshler *

(county seat)

Villages

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

* Belvidere * Bruning *

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

* Carleton *

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

* Davenport *

Gilead Gilead or Gilad (, ; ''Gilʿāḏ'', , ''Jalʻād'') is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> The region is bounded in the west by the J ...

* Hubbell

Politics

Thayer County voters are reliably Republican. In only one national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

References

External links

{{authority control 1871 establishments in Nebraska Populated places established in 1871 Nebraska counties