The largest county in Nebraska

There are two right answers. By land area it is Cherry County; by population it is Douglas County. Which one you want depends on what you meant by largest.

Largest by land area

Cherry County

5,960 sq mi

7.8% of Nebraska's land

Largest by population

Douglas County

606,460 people

30.1% of Nebraska's population

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. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

By land area

The ten largest counties of Nebraska by land area. Land area excludes inland and coastal water.
RankNameLand areaPopulation
1Cherry County5,960 sq mi5,561
2Custer County2,575 sq mi10,500
3Lincoln County2,564 sq mi33,303
4Sheridan County2,440 sq mi4,809
5Holt County2,412 sq mi10,067
6Sioux County2,067 sq mi1,188
7Garden County1,705 sq mi1,804
8Morrill County1,424 sq mi4,404
9Dawes County1,396 sq mi7,858
10Brown County1,221 sq mi2,826

By population

The ten most populous counties of Nebraska, from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates.
RankNamePopulationDensity
1Douglas County606,4601,857 per sq mi
2Lancaster County334,049399 per sq mi
3Sarpy County208,303875 per sq mi
4Hall County63,633116 per sq mi
5Buffalo County51,17252.9 per sq mi
6Dodge County38,05772.0 per sq mi
7Madison County36,10663.1 per sq mi
8Platte County35,64952.8 per sq mi
9Scotts Bluff County35,58648.1 per sq mi
10Lincoln County33,30313.0 per sq mi

And the smallest

Smallest by land area

Sarpy County

238 sq mi

Least populous

McPherson County

369 people

More on Nebraska

Rebuilt from source data 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.