Thomas County, Nebraska Demographics

Population trends, housing costs, income, commuting, and health, all on one page.

Thomas County, NE Population Density Map and Area Scores

Area Score

Health, income and education, each graded from F to A+. Explore interactive maps for deeper analysis.

  • N/A
    Health Not enough data
  • B
    Income Around average
    Among the top 5 wealthiest counties in Nebraska
  • D
    Education Well below average
    Better educated than 73% of counties in Nebraska

Source: Map AI Methodology

Thomas County
Click a county to open it Explore the map →
Population density, people per sq mi

Population: density and quick facts

Metric Thomas County Nebraska Avg U.S. Average
Population 564 1,978,686 337,468,954
Population density (per sq mi) 0.8 25.6 86.4
Population growth (%/yr) -2.06% 0.63% 0.59%
Median age 52.0 38.3 37.3
Households 304 797,835 130,235,071

Population in Thomas County declined by 14.8% from 2009 to 2024, reaching 564 in 2024.

Population Growth 2009–2024

Year Thomas County

Race & Ethnicity

Group Share

Age & Sex

The largest generation in Thomas County is Boomers, aged 61–79, at 26.1% of residents. That is 9.8 points above Nebraska as a whole.

Residents by birth cohort, from the 2025 age distribution. The right-hand figure is how far each cohort's share sits above or below Nebraska, in percentage points. Children younger than Gen Z and the generations before the Boomers are counted in the population but not shown here, so these shares do not add up to 100%.

Male and female share

Women are 51.6% of the people living in Thomas County and men 48.4%.

How many residents match a customer profile?

Who to count

Residents matching this profile

564

100% of everyone living in Thomas County

Pick an age range and a women/men split and the figure above answers with how many residents that profile reaches.

Economy

Thomas County has a the economy index of B, which means it is quite prosperous.

Metric Thomas County Nebraska Avg U.S. Average
Median household income $63,970 $76,615 $80,455
Income growth (%/yr) 2.07% 4.27% 4.80%
Unemployment rate 2.1% 3.0% 5.2%

The median household income in Thomas County is about 17% lower than in Nebraska.

Detailed wealth and income breakdown →

Housing

Metric Thomas County Nebraska Avg U.S. Average
Median home price $94,166 $175,282 $248,835
Median rent $637 $1,071 $1,407
Homeownership rate 68.1% 66.5% 65.2%

The median home price in Thomas County is about 12.3 years' worth of rent — buying at the median price costs roughly as much as paying the median rent of $637 per month for that long.

Full housing market analysis →

Commute Time & Mobility

Commuters in Thomas County spend about 22 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 91 hours, about 3.8 full days, spent commuting.

Metric Thomas County Nebraska Avg U.S. Average
One-way commute (min) 10.9 17.0 22.4
Round-trip commute (min) 21.9 34.0 44.8
Yearly time spent (hours) 91 142 187
Estimated yearly cost $2,826 $4,390 $5,790
Work from home 11.7% 11.1% 15.0%
Highway traffic (vehicles/day) 645 5,179 8,813
Local road traffic (vehicles/day) 61 691 1,355

Fastest commutes among counties in Nebraska: Hooker County (7.4 min), Cherry County (8.0 min), Box Butte County (8.0 min).
Slowest: Cass County (28.0 min), Banner County (27.2 min), Saunders County (26.9 min).

The average commute time in Thomas County is 11 minutes, shorter than the 17 minutes in Nebraska.

Estimated yearly cost applies a single national wage rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area. Traffic volume figures come from proprietary Ticon and TrafficZoom data.

Commute and transport details →

Education & Households

Thomas County has a education index of D, which means it is barely educated.

Metric Thomas County Nebraska Avg U.S. Average
Bachelor's degree or higher 24.2% 30.8% 31.6%
Average household size 1.86 2.42 2.53

Highest education index among counties in Nebraska: Sarpy County (0.3), Lancaster County (0.3), Douglas County (0.3).
Lowest: Dakota County (0.2), Colfax County (0.2), Dawson County (0.2).

Health

Metric Thomas County Nebraska Avg U.S. Average
Life expectancy (years) — 79.5 78.3
Self-rated poor health 11.0% 12.9% 16.3%
Smokers 14.7% 16.6% 19.0%

Highest health index among counties in Nebraska: Wayne County (0.8), Sarpy County (0.8), Lancaster County (0.8).
Lowest: Thurston County (0.8), Pawnee County (0.8), Dundy County (0.8).

Full health data →

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Thomas County, Nebraska.

What is the population of Thomas County, Nebraska?

About 564 people live in Thomas County, Nebraska, in 304 households of 1.9 people on average. The median age is 52.0, so residents are older than the U.S. median of 37.3 by about 15 years.

How densely populated is Thomas County, Nebraska?

Averaged over its land area, Thomas County, Nebraska has 1 people per square mile, a density typical of rural areas. That is about 1% of the U.S. average of 86.

Is Thomas County, Nebraska an affordable place to live?

The median home costs 1.5 times the median household income ($94,166 against $63,970), compared with 3.1 times nationally. That is within the traditional rule of thumb of about 3 times income. Median rent of $637 a month takes about 12% of the median household's income, below the 30% level at which HUD considers renters cost-burdened.

How strong is the job market in Thomas County, Nebraska?

Unemployment in Thomas County, Nebraska is only 2.1%, well below the U.S. rate of 5.2%, a sign of a tight labor market where employers compete for workers.

How common is a college degree in Thomas County, Nebraska?

24.2% of adults in Thomas County, Nebraska hold a bachelor's degree or higher (about 1 in 4), well below the U.S. share of 31.6%.

Analyze any area in the US

Get local demographics for any address, aggregated by drive time or radius, on the interactive map.

Explore the map →