17,769 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.9% since 2020)
571 square miles of land · 31 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 Seward County in the area they serve, reporting 12,306 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SEWARD, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3115905 | 7,700 served |
| MILFORD, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3115907 | 2,090 served |
| UTICA, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3115913 | 840 served |
| BEAVER CROSSING, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3115911 | 375 served |
| PLEASANT DALE, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3115906 | 317 served |
| STAPLEHURST, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3115914 | 230 served |
| GARLAND, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3115901 | 210 served |
| GOEHNER, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3115902 | 185 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 31 people were held in Seward County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 275 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 14.
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 Seward County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $21.7 million — $20.4 million to run schools, about $13,609 per student, plus $655,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $18.4 million local (mostly property tax), $3.3 million state, $972,000 federal. Long-term debt: $14.7 million.
Spent $12 million — $11.3 million to run schools, about $13,768 per student, plus $352,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.1 million local (mostly property tax), $3.4 million state, $443,000 federal. Long-term debt: $519,000.
Spent $10.6 million — $9.8 million to run schools, about $19,700 per student, plus $641,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.4 million local (mostly property tax), $1.9 million state, $801,000 federal. Long-term debt: $6 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 Seward County about $13.6 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.
246 bridges in Seward County: 159 in good condition, 68 fair, and 19 poor (7.7%). “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.
| N103 over CHEESE CREEK · built 1981 | 2,690 vehicles a day |
| L80F UTICA CNLK over I80 · built 1966 | 1,115 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over PLUM CREEK · built 1958 | 125 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over W FK BIG BLUE RIVER · built 1925 | 100 vehicles a day |
| BLUFF ROAD over PLUM CREEK · built 1967 | 100 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over PLUM CREEK · 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 $8.2 million of work in Seward County in fiscal 2025, about $464 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 Seward 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 Seward County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: York County (24 mi) · Lancaster County (24 mi) · Butler County (24 mi) · Saline County (25 mi) · Polk County (31 mi) · Fillmore County (34 mi).