16,591 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.3% since 2020)
616 square miles of land · 27 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.
11 active community water systems list Otoe County in the area they serve, reporting 14,280 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NEBRASKA CITY, CITY OF groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · NE3113106 | 7,220 served |
| OTOE CO RWD #3 groundwater · local government · NE3113103 | 2,500 served |
| SYRACUSE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3113104 | 1,962 served |
| OTOE CO RWD 1 buys groundwater · local government · NE3113109 | 714 served |
| PALMYRA, VILLAGE OF buys groundwater · local government · NE3113107 | 567 served |
| UNADILLA, VILLAGE OF buys groundwater · local government · NE3113101 | 311 served |
| OTOE, VILLAGE OF buys groundwater · local government · NE3113108 | 288 served |
| TALMAGE, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3113102 | 266 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 23 people were held in Otoe County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 237 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 13.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Otoe County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $19.2 million — $17.7 million to run schools, about $12,401 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.3 million local (mostly property tax), $7.2 million state, $3 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.3 million.
Spent $11.7 million — $10.9 million to run schools, about $13,705 per student, plus $562,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.6 million local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $473,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.2 million.
Spent $11.2 million — $8.5 million to run schools, about $11,959 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.8 million local (mostly property tax), $2.5 million state, $581,000 federal. Long-term debt: $10.2 million.
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 Otoe County about $11 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
360 bridges in Otoe County: 159 in good condition, 127 fair, and 74 poor (20.6%). “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.
| N128 over ROCK CREEK · built 1979 | 695 vehicles a day |
| S66E BURR SPUR over STREAM · built 1975 | 545 vehicles a day |
| 3RD ST/FAU 6213 over SOUTH TABLE CREEK · built 1978 | 515 vehicles a day |
| S66D TALMAGE SPUR over STREAM · built 1956 | 450 vehicles a day |
| NEBRASKA STREET over N FK LITTLE NEMAHA RIVER · built 1935 | 350 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over STREAM · built 1935 | 80 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $5.2 million of work in Otoe County in fiscal 2025, about $326 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 Otoe 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 Otoe County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Johnson County (18 mi) · Cass County (19 mi) · Nemaha County (23 mi) · Fremont County, IA (29 mi) · Lancaster County (31 mi) · Sarpy County (33 mi).