35,734 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.9% since 2020)
740 square miles of land · 48 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.
12 active community water systems list Scotts Bluff County in the area they serve, reporting 29,302 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SCOTTSBLUFF, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3115716 | 14,282 served |
| GERING, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3115717 | 8,500 served |
| MITCHELL, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3115703 | 1,526 served |
| WESTERN NE JOINT WATER BOARD groundwater · local government · NE3121302 | 1,368 served |
| TERRYTOWN, CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · NE3115701 | 1,143 served |
| MORRILL, VILLAGE OF buys groundwater · local government · NE3115708 | 934 served |
| MINATARE, CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · NE3115702 | 809 served |
| LYMAN, VILLAGE OF buys groundwater · local government · NE3115710 | 325 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 199 people were held in Scotts Bluff County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 940 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 158.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Scotts Bluff County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $49.7 million — $45.4 million to run schools, about $12,908 per student, plus $3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $24.4 million local (mostly property tax), $22 million state, $6.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $32.3 million.
Spent $26.3 million — $23.5 million to run schools, about $11,616 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.1 million local (mostly property tax), $11.9 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $31.1 million.
Spent $11 million — $9 million to run schools, about $14,595 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.7 million local (mostly property tax), $5.5 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $277,000.
Spent $8.4 million — $7.7 million to run schools, about $23,270 per student, plus $464,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.7 million local (mostly property tax), $2.7 million state, $796,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1 million.
Spent $4.6 million — $4.1 million to run schools, about $27,250 per student, plus $222,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $692,000 local (mostly property tax), $3.1 million state, $436,000 federal. Long-term debt: $397,000.
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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Scotts Bluff County about $24.7 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.
248 bridges in Scotts Bluff County: 161 in good condition, 77 fair, and 10 poor (4.0%). “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.
| S BOUND BDWY NPRB over NORTH PLATTE RIVER · built 1973 | 7,513 vehicles a day |
| COOK OIL over TRI-STATE CANAL · built 1975 | 150 vehicles a day |
| ROAD 22 over GERING VALLEY DRAIN · built 1960 | 40 vehicles a day |
| CR 13 - H over MITCHELL-GERING CANAL · built 1935 | 35 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 31 over LOW LINE CANAL · built 1935 | 35 vehicles a day |
| CR 2 - J over DRY CREEK DRAIN · built 1935 | 35 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $30.4 million of work in Scotts Bluff County in fiscal 2025, about $842 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 Scotts Bluff 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 Scotts Bluff County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Banner County (21 mi) · Goshen County, WY (37 mi) · Morrill County (38 mi) · Box Butte County (40 mi) · Sioux County (43 mi) · Kimball County (45 mi).