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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Nebraska

1 persistent-poverty county

Nebraska has 1 persistent-poverty counties and 82 nonmetro counties — home to 6,666 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 10.3% and child poverty is 11.6%.

1

Persistent-poverty counties

82

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

7K

Residents in PPCs

93

Total counties

Nebraska by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Nebraska at a glance

Poverty rate

10.3%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

11.6%

Under 18

PPC share

1.1%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

88.2%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

1.78

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.29

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Nebraska's 35 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 93 in Nebraska.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Thurston 0.63
  2. 2 Franklin 0.36
  3. 3 Garden 0.36
  4. 4 Pawnee 0.36
  5. 5 Knox 0.35

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Thurston 18.0%
  2. 2 Nance 16.1%
  3. 3 Franklin 14.1%
  4. 4 Garden 14.1%
  5. 5 Pawnee 14.1%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Thurston 18.0%

Every county in Nebraska

All 93 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Adams 4 — — 12.8% 14.9% 31,034 0.16
Antelope 9 — Pop. loss 10.0% 7.8% 6,302 0.34
Arthur 9 — — 9.6% 13.8% 540 0.34
Banner 8 — Pop. loss 9.4% 9.9% 657 0.30
Blaine 9 — Pop. loss 10.6% 10.7% 385 0.34
Boone 9 — Pop. loss 9.2% 11.1% 5,366 0.34
Box Butte 7 — Pop. loss 10.0% 4.0% 10,754 0.27
Boyd 9 — Pop. loss 10.2% 19.9% 1,704 0.34
Brown 9 — Pop. loss 12.1% 11.4% 2,739 0.35
Buffalo 4 — — 11.0% 9.7% 50,323 0.16
Burt 8 — Pop. loss 13.7% 19.9% 6,730 0.32
Butler 8 — Pop. loss 7.6% 5.8% 8,413 0.29
Cass 2 — — 4.9% 4.4% 26,963 0.06
Cedar 9 — Pop. loss 6.2% 5.4% 8,344 0.32
Chase 9 — Pop. loss 7.8% 12.1% 3,639 0.33
Cherry 9 — Pop. loss 7.2% 7.5% 5,468 0.33
Cheyenne 7 — — 11.1% 12.0% 9,478 0.27
Clay 9 — Pop. loss 8.1% 8.6% 6,084 0.33
Colfax 7 — — 8.7% 7.1% 10,541 0.26
Cuming 9 — Pop. loss 7.8% 10.6% 8,976 0.33
Custer 9 — Pop. loss 8.6% 11.6% 10,544 0.33
Dakota 3 — Housing 11.2% 16.9% 21,331 0.12
Dawes 9 — — 12.6% 5.5% 8,212 0.35
Dawson 7 — Pop. loss 12.3% 16.4% 24,020 0.27
Deuel 9 — Pop. loss 9.1% 8.2% 1,865 0.34
Dixon 8 — Pop. loss 7.1% 7.6% 5,561 0.29
Dodge 4 — — 9.3% 11.4% 37,146 0.15
Douglas 2 — Housing 11.2% 13.5% 585,461 0.08
Dundy 9 — Pop. loss 12.0% 29.0% 1,811 0.35
Fillmore 8 — Pop. loss 7.9% 5.9% 5,551 0.29
Franklin 9 — Pop. loss 14.1% 22.0% 2,868 0.36
Frontier 9 — Pop. loss 12.1% 10.4% 2,562 0.35
Furnas 9 — Pop. loss 12.3% 16.1% 4,605 0.35
Gage 6 — Pop. loss 13.2% 16.1% 21,646 0.24
Garden 9 — Pop. loss 14.1% 14.8% 1,620 0.36
Garfield 9 — — 11.7% 12.2% 1,797 0.35
Gosper 9 — Pop. loss 7.0% 8.3% 1,929 0.33
Grant 9 — Pop. loss 10.8% 3.7% 695 0.34
Greeley 8 — Pop. loss 11.2% 16.4% 2,211 0.31
Hall 3 — — 11.8% 15.1% 62,431 0.12
Hamilton 8 — — 6.7% 8.8% 9,438 0.29
Harlan 9 — Pop. loss 7.2% 4.5% 3,006 0.33
Hayes 9 — Pop. loss 12.3% 10.6% 854 0.35
Hitchcock 9 — Pop. loss 11.6% 11.7% 2,601 0.35
Holt 9 — Pop. loss 10.8% 11.2% 10,093 0.34
Hooker 9 — Pop. loss 7.7% 0.0% 613 0.33
Howard 3 — — 5.4% 4.0% 6,492 0.10
Jefferson 9 — Pop. loss 9.9% 3.3% 7,155 0.34
Johnson 8 — Low emp. 6.8% 6.1% 5,263 0.29
Kearney 9 — — 6.7% 7.8% 6,697 0.33
Keith 9 — Pop. loss 10.7% 10.1% 8,239 0.34
Keya Paha 9 — Pop. loss 10.4% 12.3% 939 0.34
Kimball 8 — Pop. loss 11.1% 15.3% 3,348 0.31
Knox 9 — Pop. loss 13.2% 17.9% 8,362 0.35
Lancaster 2 — — 11.7% 11.6% 323,673 0.08
Lincoln 5 — — 12.8% 14.9% 34,122 0.20
Logan 9 — Pop. loss 8.2% 8.2% 812 0.33
Loup 9 — Pop. loss 8.2% 0.0% 564 0.33
Madison 5 — — 11.8% 13.3% 35,535 0.20
McPherson 9 — — 7.1% 7.4% 463 0.33
Merrick 3 — Pop. loss, Housing 8.7% 7.9% 7,696 0.11
Morrill 9 — Pop. loss 12.4% 16.1% 4,544 0.35
Nance 8 — Pop. loss 16.1% 22.1% 3,342 0.33
Nemaha 9 — Pop. loss 13.0% 12.2% 7,035 0.35
Nuckolls 9 — Pop. loss 7.4% 9.7% 4,089 0.33
Otoe 6 — — 9.5% 11.1% 16,075 0.23
Pawnee 9 — Pop. loss 14.1% 14.3% 2,539 0.36
Perkins 9 — Pop. loss 7.7% 8.3% 2,835 0.33
Phelps 7 — Pop. loss 13.6% 15.0% 8,983 0.28
Pierce 9 — — 8.0% 8.7% 7,312 0.33
Platte 5 — — 8.7% 9.5% 34,358 0.18
Polk 8 — Pop. loss 6.2% 8.8% 5,209 0.29
Red Willow 7 — Pop. loss 14.1% 21.2% 10,611 0.28
Richardson 9 — Pop. loss 10.6% 13.0% 7,797 0.34
Rock 9 — Pop. loss 10.5% 13.0% 1,335 0.34
Saline 6 — — 9.5% 11.7% 14,642 0.23
Sarpy 2 — — 5.2% 5.2% 194,051 0.06
Saunders 2 — — 6.4% 5.5% 22,761 0.06
Scotts Bluff 5 — — 13.9% 19.0% 35,937 0.21
Seward 2 — — 6.9% 6.2% 17,636 0.07
Sheridan 9 — Pop. loss 10.7% 14.2% 5,058 0.34
Sherman 8 — Pop. loss 9.5% 9.5% 2,974 0.30
Sioux 9 — Pop. loss 11.4% 6.4% 1,197 0.35
Stanton 9 — Pop. loss 7.1% 6.2% 5,835 0.33
Thayer 9 — Pop. loss 9.0% 8.2% 4,938 0.34
Thomas 9 — — 4.8% 0.0% 626 0.32
Thurston 8 Yes Pop. loss 18.0% 22.9% 6,666 0.63
Valley 9 — Pop. loss 9.3% 11.3% 4,094 0.34
Washington 2 — — 6.9% 10.5% 20,989 0.07
Wayne 7 — — 13.2% 8.4% 9,786 0.28
Webster 9 — Pop. loss 9.9% 9.4% 3,385 0.34
Wheeler 9 — Pop. loss 5.2% 1.5% 785 0.32
York 6 — — 9.0% 10.6% 14,231 0.22

Find a food pantry in Nebraska

Search Nebraska's 35 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Nebraska pantry directory

Nebraska SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Nebraska SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Nebraska food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology