Logan County is a county in Nebraska, United States, on the Sandhills’ eastern edge along the Dismal River. It had a population of 716 at the 2020 census and covers 571 square miles (1,479 km2) centred near 41°33′N 100°27′W.
Stapleton is the county seat and its postal code is 69163. The county has two villages and one unincorporated community, sits in the Central time zone, and is part of the North Platte, NE micropolitan statistical area.
Towns & Villages in Logan County
Logan County has just three named places, all clustered along the Dismal River valley: two incorporated villages and one small unincorporated community. Both villages are tiny — Stapleton, the seat, is the only one with its own ZIP code.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stapleton | Village · seat | — | 69163 |
| Gandy | Village | — | 69163 |
| Hoagland | Unincorp. | — | 69163 |
A fourth name, “Logan,” appears on some older place lists for the county but does not correspond to any current village, CDP, or unincorporated community on record — it has been omitted here rather than published unverified.
ZIP Codes
- 69163 — Stapleton (also serves Gandy and Hoagland)
Logan County is served by a single ZIP code; the whole county, including its smaller villages, mails through the Stapleton post office.
Geography
Logan County sits in the Nebraska Sandhills, where the terrain slopes gently to the east-northeast toward the Dismal River, the county’s principal waterway. The Sandhills’ rolling, grass-stabilized dunes cover most of the county, leaving little land suited to row-crop farming and shaping the ranching economy described below. The county covers 571 square miles (1,479 km2), of which under 1% is water. It borders Thomas County to the north, Blaine County to the northeast, Custer County to the east, Lincoln County to the south, and McPherson County to the west.
Neighboring counties: Thomas County (north), Blaine County (northeast), Custer County (east), Lincoln County (south), and McPherson County (west).
Demographics
Logan County had a population of 716 at the 2020 census, spread across 286 households and a median age of 46.1 years. Roughly 94% of residents identify as White and about 3% as Hispanic or Latino. The population is 100% rural — no place in the county meets the Census Bureau’s urban threshold. The largest two communities are Stapleton, the seat, and Gandy. Median household income data for the county itself is not published separately; state-wide, the Nebraska median is $74,590. With no urban core, population density is well under two people per square mile, among the lowest of any Nebraska county.
Economy & Local Life
Logan County’s economy runs on cattle ranching and hay production suited to the Sandhills’ sandy, grass-stabilized terrain — row-crop farming is limited by the soil, and cattle numbers in the county far outnumber people. Stapleton serves as the county’s trade and school hub, home to the local public school and the county’s basic services. The county is reliably rural in character, with no incorporated place large enough to support significant retail beyond a grocery, fuel, and farm-supply base. Ranch and farm life sets the calendar here more than any single annual event, with branding, haying, and shipping seasons structuring the local year.
History
Logan County was organized on February 24, 1885, and named for Civil War general John A. Logan. The first railroad reached the county in 1911, decades after the county’s creation, reflecting how sparsely the Sandhills were settled in the county’s early years — the region’s dune terrain and thin creeks made large-scale homesteading slower here than on the flatter farmland to the east. Ranching, rather than the railroad or cropland, has remained the county’s economic backbone from its earliest years to the present.
Getting There
Logan County is reached mainly via state highways connecting to U.S. Route 83, which passes just east of the county through Custer County.
- North Platte, NE — 30 miles south
- Broken Bow, NE — 45 miles east
- Thedford, NE — 25 miles north
The nearest commercial airport is North Platte Regional Airport (LBF), roughly 30 miles south of Stapleton.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Logan County, Nebraska?
It is in west-central Nebraska, in the Sandhills region along the Dismal River, about 30 miles north of North Platte.
What is the population of Logan County?
716 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Logan County?
571 square miles (1,479 km2) of land and water.
What is the county seat of Logan County?
Stapleton.
How many towns are in Logan County?
Two incorporated villages, Stapleton and Gandy, plus the unincorporated community of Hoagland.
What ZIP codes are in Logan County?
The whole county is served by ZIP code 69163 (Stapleton).
What is Logan County’s main industry?
Cattle ranching and hay farming, typical of the Sandhills’ grass-stabilized dune terrain.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Nebraska.