8,439 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.0% since 2020)
585 square miles of land · 14 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
10 active community water systems list Butler County in the area they serve, reporting 4,800 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| DAVID CITY, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3102301 | 3,000 served |
| BELLWOOD, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3102306 | 435 served |
| RISING CITY, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3102308 | 374 served |
| BRAINARD, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3102304 | 361 served |
| DWIGHT, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3102303 | 229 served |
| ULYSSES, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3102307 | 176 served |
| BRUNO, VILLAGE OF buys groundwater · local government · NE3102302 | 99 served |
| ABIE, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3102305 | 65 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 29 people were held in Butler County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 571 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 20.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
2 school districts have their office in Butler County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $14 million — $12.8 million to run schools, about $19,003 per student, plus $459,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.3 million local (mostly property tax), $2.2 million state, $828,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2 million.
Spent $8.6 million — $7.7 million to run schools, about $25,909 per student, plus $746,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.2 million local (mostly property tax), $1.2 million state, $365,000 federal. Long-term debt: $201,000.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Butler County about $10.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
212 bridges in Butler County: 43 in good condition, 163 fair, and 6 poor (2.8%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| COUNTY ROAD VW over MIDDLE OAK CREEK · built 1935 | 20 vehicles a day |
| TOWNSHIP ROAD over S CH PLATTE RIVER · built 1891 | 15 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD E over BIG BLUE RIVER · built 1897 | 15 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 42 over STREAM · built 1935 | 15 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 33 over STREAM · built 1935 | 10 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 39 over STREAM · built 1935 | 5 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $968,385 of work in Butler County in fiscal 2025, about $116 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Nebraska are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Butler County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Butler County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Polk County (23 mi) · Colfax County (24 mi) · Seward County (24 mi) · Saunders County (25 mi) · Platte County (31 mi) · York County (34 mi).