10,487 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.0% since 2020)
2,575 square miles of land · 4 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 Custer County in the area they serve, reporting 6,640 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BROKEN BOW, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3104105 | 3,600 served |
| ARNOLD, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3104102 | 592 served |
| CALLAWAY, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3104111 | 563 served |
| SARGENT, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3104101 | 550 served |
| ANSLEY, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3104104 | 459 served |
| MERNA, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3104108 | 363 served |
| MASON CITY, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3104109 | 171 served |
| OCONTO, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3104107 | 150 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 11 people were held in Custer County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 178 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 11.
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.
6 school districts have their office in Custer County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $12.1 million — $11.9 million to run schools, about $13,354 per student, plus $181,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.6 million local (mostly property tax), $2.2 million state, $1.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.7 million.
Spent $4.8 million — $4.4 million to run schools, about $17,943 per student, plus $255,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.5 million local (mostly property tax), $947,000 state, $306,000 federal.
Spent $4.4 million — $3.7 million to run schools, about $18,375 per student, plus $485,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.2 million local (mostly property tax), $477,000 state, $392,000 federal. Long-term debt: $965,000.
Spent $3.8 million — $3.5 million to run schools, about $18,474 per student, plus $116,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.2 million local (mostly property tax), $738,000 state, $161,000 federal.
Spent $4.9 million — $4.3 million to run schools, about $23,939 per student, plus $462,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.5 million local (mostly property tax), $684,000 state, $370,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1,000.
Spent $3.8 million — $3.6 million to run schools, about $20,822 per student, plus $85,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.9 million local (mostly property tax), $463,000 state, $263,000 federal. Long-term debt: $34,000.
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 Custer County about $11.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
301 bridges in Custer County: 178 in good condition, 99 fair, and 24 poor (8.0%). “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.
| N2/N92 over MUD CREEK TRIBUTARY · built 1935 | 3,605 vehicles a day |
| 462ND RD over MIDDLE LOU RIVER · built 1953 | 115 vehicles a day |
| FAS 1875 over STREAM · built 1934 | 80 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over STREAM · built 1930 | 70 vehicles a day |
| DAWSON STREET over MUD CREEK · built 1912 | 50 vehicles a day |
| TOWNSHIP ROAD over CLEAR CREEK · built 1930 | 35 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $11 million of work in Custer County in fiscal 2025, about $1,046 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 Custer 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 Custer County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Loup County (36 mi) · Dawson County (37 mi) · Logan County (38 mi) · Blaine County (40 mi) · Valley County (40 mi) · Sherman County (41 mi).