County Maps US

Phelps County, Nebraska

A county in Nebraska, ranked 30 of 93 by population.

CountyFIPS 31137

Within Nebraska
Phelps County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Holdrege, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
8,994
+16 (+0.2%) since 2020
Land area
539.8
square miles. A further 0.1% of the total area is water
Population density
16.7
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Holdrege
Seat of county government.
Established
1873
152 years ago
Largest city
Holdrege city
Population 5,555.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Phelps County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Phelps County, Nebraska from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 763 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Phelps County ranks

Position among the 93 counties of Nebraska, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn NebraskaNationally
Population8,99430th of 932,491st of 3,144
Land area539.8 sq mi72nd of 931,936th of 3,144
Population density16.7 per sq mi26th of 932,343rd of 3,144
Median household income$68,91946th of 931,271st of 3,143

Full data for Phelps County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population8,994Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20208,978Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?8,969Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area539.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area0.66 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area540.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?16.7 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$68,919American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$194,900American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age41.4American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households3,916American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units4,170American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+3
111 births, 108 deaths
Net migration
-38
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 7 areas bordering Phelps County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Harlan CountyNebraska24 mi3,000
Gosper CountyNebraska23 mi1,803
Kearney CountyNebraska21 mi6,790
Buffalo CountyNebraska13 mi51,172
Dawson CountyNebraska12 mi24,452
Furnas CountyNebraska0.6 mi4,524
Franklin CountyNebraskaa single point2,795

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 93 counties of Nebraska

Open the interactive Nebraska county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.