Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska

Scotts Bluff County is a county in Nebraska, United States, on the state’s western border with Wyoming, along the North Platte River valley. It had a population of 36,084 at the 2020 census and covers 745.6 square miles (1,930.98 km2) centred near 41°51′02″N 103°42′11″W.

Gering is the county seat, and its postal code is 69341. The county has 5 incorporated cities and 5 villages — ten municipalities in all — and observes Mountain Time (UTC−7, UTC−6 during daylight saving).

Towns & Villages in Scotts Bluff County

Scotts Bluff County has ten incorporated places: five cities (Gering, Minatare, Mitchell, Scottsbluff and Terrytown) and five villages (Henry, Lyman, McGrew, Melbeta and Morrill). Nebraska draws a legal line between a city, which has a mayor-council or commission government, and a smaller village, which is run by a board of trustees. A handful of unincorporated crossroads and manufactured-home communities from the county’s older records — Baxter, Bradley, Carlson, Costin, Covert, Doyle, Haig, Hartman, Heldt, Hillerage, Hubbard Corner, James, Jane, Janise, Joyce, Mintle, Pelton, Redus, Sears, South Mitchell, South Morrill, Stegall, Tony and Trout — have no verifiable current population figures and are omitted from the table below; several (Evergreen Estates MHs, Harrys MH Incorporated, Morrill MH Estates, Northside MH Ranch, Sunflower MH Park, Sunrise Village MH Park) were private mobile-home parks rather than places with their own government.

Scottsbluff and Gering sit three miles apart on Highway 92 and effectively form one urban area, though Scottsbluff is the larger city and Gering is the county seat — the two functions are split between the towns, a detail the county’s older records sometimes reversed.

ZIP Codes

• 69361 — Scottsbluff (also serves Terrytown)
• 69341 — Gering
• 69357 — Mitchell (also serves Henry)
• 69356 — Minatare
• 69358 — Morrill
• 69352 — Lyman
• 69355 — Melbeta (PO Box delivery)
• 69353 — McGrew (PO Box delivery)
• 69363 — Scottsbluff (PO Box delivery)

Terrytown and Henry are unincorporated or small enough that they draw mail through a neighboring town’s post office rather than carrying a ZIP of their own.

Geography

The county lies in the North Platte River valley below Scotts Bluff and the Wildcat Hills, a band of pine-covered bluffs that rises abruptly from the irrigated farmland along the river. Scotts Bluff National Monument, an 800-foot promontory that guided 19th-century wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, sits just west of Gering. The North Platte River crosses the county west to east, feeding the irrigation canals that support the local sugar beet and dry bean industry.

Scotts Bluff County borders Sioux County to the north, Box Butte County to the northeast, Morrill County to the east, Banner County to the south, and Goshen County, Wyoming, to the west. Sioux County, Box Butte County, Morrill County and Banner County are all covered on this site; Goshen County lies across the state line in Wyoming.

Demographics

Scotts Bluff County had 36,084 residents at the 2020 census, a density of about 48.8 people per square mile of land. Scottsbluff (14,436) and Gering (8,564) together hold roughly two-thirds of the county’s population; the rest is spread across the smaller cities, villages and farmland along the North Platte valley. County-level median household income was reported at $63,614, below the Nebraska median of $74,590.

Economy & Local Life

Irrigated agriculture anchors the local economy — sugar beets, corn and dry edible beans are the main crops, supported by canal irrigation drawn from the North Platte River. Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff is the largest employer and a referral hospital for the western Nebraska/eastern Wyoming panhandle region. Western Nebraska Community College, also in Scottsbluff, is the area’s higher-education anchor. Tourism tied to Scotts Bluff National Monument and the surrounding Wildcat Hills draws visitors along the Oregon Trail corridor each summer.

History

Scotts Bluff County was organized on November 6, 1888, carved out of the western Nebraska panhandle as settlement followed the North Platte valley. It takes its name from Scotts Bluff, the landmark formation named for Hiram Scott, a Rocky Mountain Fur Company trapper who is said to have died near the bluff around 1828. The bluff had already served for decades as a waypoint for travelers on the Oregon, California and Mormon trails before the county was formed around it.

Getting There

U.S. Highways 26 and 92 and Nebraska Highway 71 are the county’s main routes, converging on the Scottsbluff–Gering area.

• Torrington, Wyoming — about 30 miles west
• Alliance, Nebraska — about 55 miles east
• Chadron, Nebraska — about 90 miles northeast
• Cheyenne, Wyoming — about 110 miles southwest

Western Nebraska Regional Airport (BFF) in Scottsbluff is the county’s commercial airport, with connecting flights to Denver.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska?
It is on Nebraska’s western border, in the North Platte River valley adjoining Wyoming.

What is the population of Scotts Bluff County?
36,084 residents at the 2020 census.

How big is Scotts Bluff County?
745.6 square miles (1,930.98 km2), of which about 6 square miles is water.

What is the county seat of Scotts Bluff County?
Gering, though neighboring Scottsbluff is the larger city.

How many towns and villages are in Scotts Bluff County?
Ten incorporated places: five cities and five villages.

What ZIP codes are in Scotts Bluff County?
69341 (Gering), 69361/69363 (Scottsbluff), 69357 (Mitchell), 69356 (Minatare), 69358 (Morrill), 69352 (Lyman), 69355 (Melbeta) and 69353 (McGrew).

What is Scotts Bluff County known for?
Scotts Bluff National Monument, an 800-foot Oregon Trail landmark, and irrigated sugar beet and dry bean farming along the North Platte River.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Nebraska.