Custer County, Nebraska

Custer County, Nebraska
Custer County Courthouse in Broken Bow, Nebraska
Location in the state of Nebraska
Nebraska's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 17, 1877
Named for	George Armstrong Custer
Seat	Broken Bow
Largest city	Broken Bow
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	2,576 sq mi (6,672 km²) 2,576 sq mi (6,671 km²) 0 sq mi (1 km²), 0.01
Population  - (2000)  - Density	10,939
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	http://www.custercounty.com/

Custer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of 2010, the population was 10939. Its county seat is Broken Bow.^[1]

In the Nebraska license plate system, Custer County is represented by the prefix 4 (it had the fourth-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,576 square miles (6,671.8 km²), of which 2,576 square miles (6,671.8 km²) is land and 0 square miles (0.0 km²) (0.01%) is water. In area, it is the second largest county in Nebraska, only Cherry County being larger.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 183
• Nebraska Highway 2
• Nebraska Highway 21
• Nebraska Highway 40
• Nebraska Highway 47
• Nebraska Highway 70
• Nebraska Highway 92

Adjacent counties

• Valley County, Nebraska - (Northeast)
• Sherman County, Nebraska - (Southeast)
• Buffalo County, Nebraska - (Southeast)
• Dawson County, Nebraska - (South)
• Lincoln County, Nebraska - (Southwest)
• Logan County, Nebraska - (Northwest)
• Blaine County, Nebraska - (Northwest)
• Loup County, Nebraska - (Northeast)

History

Custer County was formed in 1877. It was named after General George Armstrong Custer,^[2] who was killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Demographics

Custer County Population by decade

1880 - 2,211 1890 - 21,677 1900 - 19,758 1910 - 25,668 1920 - 26,407 1930 - 26,189 1940 - 22,591 1950 - 19,170 1960 - 16,517 1970 - 14,092 1980 - 13,877 1990 - 12,270 2000 - 11,793

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 11,793 people, 4,826 households, and 3,320 families residing in the county. The population density was 5 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 5,585 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.63% White, 0.07% Black or African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.20% from other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. 0.92% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 37.3% were of German, 11.9% English, 10.6% Irish and 8.9% American ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 4,826 households out of which 30.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.90% were married couples living together, 5.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.20% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.30% under the age of 18, 5.50% from 18 to 24, 23.50% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 21.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 96.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,677, and the median income for a family was $37,063. Males had a median income of $24,609 versus $19,732 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,171. About 9.10% of families and 12.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.20% of those under age 18 and 9.10% of those age 65 or over.

Localities

Cities

• Broken Bow
• Sargent

Villages

Anselmo Ansley Arnold

Berwyn Callaway Comstock

Mason City Merna Oconto

Other communities

• Etna
• Westerville

Townships

Algernon (includes village of Mason City) Ansley (includes village of Ansley) Arnold (includes village of Arnold) Berwyn (includes village of Berwyn) Broken Bow (surrounds, but does not include, city of Broken Bow) Cliff Comstock (includes village of Comstock) Corner Custer Delight (includes village of Callaway) Douglas Grove

East Custer Elim Elk Creek Garfield Grant Hayes Kilfoil (includes village of Merna) Lillian Loup Milburn

Myrtle Ryno Sargent (includes city of Sargent) Spring Creek Triumph Victoria (includes village of Anselmo) Wayne Westerville West Union Wood River (includes village of Oconto)

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Custer County, Nebraska

References

1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
2. ^ [1] Retrieved on March 14, 2008.
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

Coordinates: 41°23′N 99°44′W / 41.39°N 99.73°W / 41.39; -99.73