33,319 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.5% since 2020)
2,564 square miles of land · 13 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.
9 active community water systems list Lincoln County in the area they serve, reporting 28,275 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NORTH PLATTE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3111106 | 25,000 served |
| SUTHERLAND, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3111111 | 1,313 served |
| HERSHEY, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3111101 | 665 served |
| BRADY, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3111102 | 383 served |
| WALLACE, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3111112 | 316 served |
| MAXWELL, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3120293 | 315 served |
| COTTONWOOD TERRACE buys groundwater · private · NE3121429 | 213 served |
| EAST MALONEY HOMEOWNERS ASSN groundwater · private · NE3111107 | 50 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 151 people were held in Lincoln County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 752 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 118.
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 Lincoln County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $58.3 million — $51.9 million to run schools, about $13,735 per student, plus $6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $30.8 million local (mostly property tax), $16.4 million state, $9.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.2 million.
Spent $19.6 million — $8.3 million to run schools, about $14,962 per student, plus $10.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.6 million local (mostly property tax), $2.8 million state, $446,000 federal. Long-term debt: $20.4 million.
Spent $6 million — $5.6 million to run schools, about $18,393 per student, plus $218,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.8 million local (mostly property tax), $879,000 state, $502,000 federal.
Spent $5 million — $4.5 million to run schools, about $17,271 per student, plus $301,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.2 million local (mostly property tax), $2.1 million state, $508,000 federal. Long-term debt: $7.2 million.
Spent $4.3 million — $3.8 million to run schools, about $20,451 per student, plus $145,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.6 million local (mostly property tax), $879,000 state, $213,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.6 million.
Spent $5 million — $4.3 million to run schools, about $23,656 per student, plus $484,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.2 million local (mostly property tax), $886,000 state, $214,000 federal.
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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Lincoln County about $16.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
197 bridges in Lincoln County: 131 in good condition, 57 fair, and 9 poor (4.6%). “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.
| TECH COLLEGE ROAD over NPPD POWER CANAL · built 1964 | 1,000 vehicles a day |
| S56A MAXWELL SPUR over N CH PLATTE RIVER · built 1931 | 955 vehicles a day |
| FAS 1545 over S CH PLATTE RIVER · built 1927 | 645 vehicles a day |
| FAS 1480 over THIRTY MILE CANAL · built 1927 | 125 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over TRI-COUNTY CANAL MP 9.0 · built 1935 | 50 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over TRI-COUNTY CANAL MP 32.8 · built 1935 | 30 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $26.5 million of work in Lincoln County in fiscal 2025, about $763 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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Logan County (37 mi) · Hayes County (39 mi) · Frontier County (40 mi) · McPherson County (46 mi) · Perkins County (48 mi) · Keith County (48 mi).