Buffalo County is a county in Nebraska, United States, centred on the city of Kearney along the Platte River, in the south-central part of the state. It had a population of 50,084 at the 2020 census and covers 975 square miles (2,526 km2), centred near 40°51′19″N 99°04′30″W.
Kearney is the county seat, and its postal code is 68845. The county has 3 incorporated cities, 6 incorporated villages, one census-designated place, and a scatter of unincorporated communities and mobile-home parks, organised across 26 civil townships. Buffalo County sits in the Central time zone and is the core of the Kearney Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Towns & Villages in Buffalo County
Buffalo County has 3 incorporated cities, 6 incorporated villages, and roughly two dozen unincorporated communities, including several mobile-home communities northwest of Kearney along the Platte. “CDP” below means census-designated place (a Census Bureau statistical area with no city government); “Unincorp.” means an unincorporated community with no municipal government of its own.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kearney | City · seat | — | — | 68845 / 68847 / 68849 |
| Gibbon | City | Gibbon | — | 68840 |
| Ravenna | City | — | — | 68869 |
| Amherst | Village | — | — | 68812 |
| Elm Creek | Village | Elm Creek | — | 68836 |
| Miller | Village | — | — | 68858 |
| Pleasanton | Village | — | — | 68866 |
| Riverdale | Village | Riverdale | — | 68870 |
| Shelton | Village | Shelton | — | 68876 |
| Odessa | CDP | Odessa | — | 68861 |
| Sartoria | Unincorp. | Sartoria | — | — |
| Buda | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Denman | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Prairie Center | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Saint Michael | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Sweetwater | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Poole | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Glenwood | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Glenwood Park | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Glenwood MH Park | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Cornhusker Trailer Court | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Cottonmill MH Court | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Countryside Mobile Park | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| East Lawn MH Estates | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| L and J MH Court | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Prairie View Estates | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| R-Villa Courts | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Riverside MH Court | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Sheens Trailer Court | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Sun Valley Trailer Court | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Valley View Trailer Court | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
Several rows above are mobile-home communities strung along the Platte River northwest of Kearney (Cornhusker Trailer Court, Cottonmill MH Court, Riverside MH Court and neighbors) — these are recognized Census places, not typos, though a few (Glenwood, Glenwood Park, Glenwood MH Park) may describe the same small cluster under slightly different names in different sources.
Townships
Buffalo County is divided into 26 civil townships, a Nebraska administrative layer below the county. Several share their name with an incorporated town or community inside them; Kearney itself spans parts of several townships near the county’s center rather than one township of its own name.
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Gibbon | — | Gibbon |
| Elm Creek | — | Elm Creek |
| Shelton | — | Shelton |
| Riverdale | — | Riverdale |
| Odessa | — | Odessa |
| Sartoria | — | Sartoria |
| Armada | — | — |
| Beaver | — | — |
| Cedar | — | — |
| Center | — | — |
| Cherry Creek | — | — |
| Collins | — | — |
| Divide | — | — |
| Gardner | — | — |
| Garfield | — | — |
| Grant | — | — |
| Harrison | — | — |
| Logan | — | — |
| Loup | — | — |
| Platte | — | — |
| Rusco | — | — |
| Schneider | — | — |
| Scott | — | — |
| Sharon | — | — |
| Thornton | — | — |
| Valley | — | — |
ZIP Codes
- 68845 — Kearney
- 68847 — Kearney (also serves the UNK campus area)
- 68849 — Kearney (single-entity ZIP)
- 68848 — Kearney (PO box only)
- 68840 — Gibbon
- 68869 — Ravenna
- 68876 — Shelton
- 68836 — Elm Creek
- 68866 — Pleasanton
- 68812 — Amherst
- 68870 — Riverdale
- 68858 — Miller
- 68861 — Odessa (also serves nearby rural addresses north of Kearney)
Smaller unincorporated communities and mobile-home parks along the Platte generally use a Kearney or Gibbon ZIP code rather than one of their own.
Geography
Buffalo County lies in the Platte River valley of south-central Nebraska, straddling the river’s braided channel and the terraces and sandhill-fringed uplands north and south of it. The Platte forms much of the county’s southern boundary area, and Elm Creek and Wood River drain smaller parts of the county. Land covers 968 square miles and water 7 square miles, about 0.7% of the total.
Buffalo County borders Sherman County to the north, Howard County to the northeast, Hall County to the east, Adams County to the southeast, Kearney County to the south, Phelps County to the southwest, Dawson County to the west, and Custer County to the northwest.
Demographics
Buffalo County had 50,084 residents at the 2020 census, the fifth-highest county population in Nebraska. Kearney is by far the largest community, followed by Gibbon and Ravenna. Median household income in the county runs close to the Nebraska median of $74,590, reflecting Kearney’s diversified retail, healthcare and education base rather than a purely agricultural income profile. Population density is roughly 52 people per square mile of land.
Economy & Local Life
Kearney anchors the county’s economy as a regional hub for south-central Nebraska, with healthcare, retail and the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) alongside farm-implement and agribusiness firms serving the surrounding corn and cattle country. Outside Kearney, the county’s economy is dominated by irrigated corn, soybeans and cattle feeding along the Platte valley. Each spring the Platte River corridor through Buffalo and neighboring counties draws birdwatchers for the sandhill crane migration, one of the region’s best-known seasonal events.
History
Buffalo County was created on March 16, 1855, and organized on October 1, 1870, and takes its name from the bison herds that once ranged the Great Plains here. The Union Pacific Railroad’s push west through the Platte valley in the early 1870s brought settlement and gave Kearney its start as a railroad town; the county’s name predates the nearby Fort Kearny military post, a historic Oregon Trail and Overland Trail stop, by several years.
Getting There
Interstate 80 runs the length of the county through Kearney, with US Highway 30, US Highway 183 and Nebraska Highway 10 providing additional north-south and east-west routes.
- Grand Island — 40 miles east
- Hastings — 40 miles southeast
- North Platte — 75 miles west
- Lincoln — 130 miles east
Kearney Regional Airport (EAR), inside the city of Kearney, offers scheduled commercial service; Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island is the next-nearest regional option to the east.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Buffalo County, Nebraska?
It is in south-central Nebraska, along the Platte River, centered on the city of Kearney about 130 miles west of Lincoln.
What is the population of Buffalo County?
50,084 people at the 2020 census, the fifth-highest county total in Nebraska.
How big is Buffalo County?
975 square miles (2,526 km2), including about 7 square miles of water.
What is the county seat of Buffalo County?
Kearney is the county seat.
How many towns are in Buffalo County?
3 incorporated cities (Kearney, Gibbon, Ravenna) and 6 incorporated villages (Amherst, Elm Creek, Miller, Pleasanton, Riverdale and Shelton), plus the census-designated place of Odessa and roughly two dozen unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Buffalo County?
The main ones are 68845, 68847 and 68849 for Kearney, plus 68840 (Gibbon), 68869 (Ravenna), 68876 (Shelton), 68836 (Elm Creek), 68866 (Pleasanton), 68812 (Amherst), 68870 (Riverdale), 68858 (Miller) and 68861 (Odessa).
What is Buffalo County known for?
Kearney’s University of Nebraska campus and its role as the region’s retail and healthcare hub, plus the Platte River’s spring sandhill crane migration that draws visitors from across the country.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Nebraska.