Chase County is a county in Nebraska, United States, on the Colorado border. It had a population of 3,893 at the 2020 census and covers 897 square miles (2,320 km2) centred near 40°32′N 101°41′W.
Imperial is the county seat, and its postal code is 69033. The county has one city, two villages and two census-designated places, all served across four ZIP codes, and sits in the Mountain time zone.
Towns & Villages in Chase County
Chase County has one incorporated city, two incorporated villages, and two census-designated places. The table below uses CDP for an unincorporated place recognized by the Census Bureau and Unincorp. for a smaller place with no formal government.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial | City · seat | 2,068 | 69033 |
| Wauneta | Village | — | 69045 |
| Lamar | Village | — | — |
| Champion | CDP | — | 69023 |
| Enders | CDP | — | 69027 |
| Chase | Unincorp. | — | — |
Chase, the county’s namesake community, is a former post-office settlement rather than an active town today. Wauneta sits close to the Hitchcock County line but its townsite is inside Chase County.
ZIP Codes
- 69033 — Imperial (also serves the surrounding rural county)
- 69045 — Wauneta
- 69023 — Champion
- 69027 — Enders
Lamar has no ZIP code of its own; mail there is routed through a neighboring post office.
Geography
Chase County lies in western Nebraska, in the transition zone between the High Plains tableland and the Sandhills, with limestone outcroppings and spring-fed Frenchman Creek crossing the southern part of the county. Land: 894 square miles; water: 3.1 square miles. The terrain rises from the creek valley into broad, gently rolling upland used mainly for dryland and irrigated cropland, with scattered rangeland toward the county’s northern edge.
Historic map descriptions place Chase County within what nineteenth-century surveyors called the Great American Desert, a label that reflected the region’s low rainfall rather than its actual soil quality; center-pivot irrigation drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer has since turned much of the county’s tableland into productive farm ground.
Chase County borders Perkins County to the north, Hayes County to the east, Dundy County to the south, and Yuma County, Colorado to the west, with Phillips County, Colorado at its southwest corner.
Demographics
The 2020 census counted 3,893 residents, a density of about 4.3 people per square mile. Imperial is by far the largest community, holding roughly two-thirds of the county’s population; Wauneta is the second-largest. Median household income in the county runs below the Nebraska median of $74,590, reflecting a small, agriculture-dependent tax base.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture drives the county’s economy, with roughly a third of its farmland under irrigation. Wheat, corn and edible beans are the principal crops, supported by grain elevators, cooperatives and farm-supply businesses centered in Imperial. Chase County Schools and county government are among the largest local employers, alongside implement dealers and agribusiness suppliers that serve the surrounding farms and ranches. Wauneta, the county’s second town, functions as a smaller trade center for the southern part of the county along Frenchman Creek.
History
Chase County was authorized by the Nebraska legislature on February 27, 1873, and formally organized in 1886, following an earlier wave of homestead settlement across the southwestern part of the territory. It is named for Champion S. Chase, a former mayor of Omaha who also served as Nebraska’s first attorney general. Like most of western Nebraska, the county was settled under the federal Homestead Act, with early farms depending on dryland wheat cultivation until groundwater irrigation expanded after the mid-20th century. The county’s economy has stayed anchored to farming and ranching ever since, without the shift toward manufacturing or tourism seen in larger Nebraska counties.
Getting There
U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 34 cross the county through Imperial, connecting it to McCook and the Colorado state line.
- McCook, Nebraska — 40 miles east
- Benkelman, Nebraska — 30 miles southeast
- Wray, Colorado — 25 miles southwest
- North Platte, Nebraska — 90 miles northeast
The nearest commercial air service is McCook Regional Airport, about 40 miles east of Imperial.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Chase County, Nebraska?
It is in the far southwest corner of the Nebraska Panhandle region, on the Colorado border.
What is the population of Chase County?
It had a population of 3,893 at the 2020 census.
How big is Chase County?
It covers 897 square miles (2,320 km2), of which 894 square miles is land.
What is the county seat of Chase County?
Imperial is the county seat.
How many towns are in Chase County?
One city (Imperial), two villages (Wauneta and Lamar) and two census-designated places (Champion and Enders).
What ZIP codes are in Chase County?
69033 (Imperial), 69045 (Wauneta), 69023 (Champion) and 69027 (Enders).
What time zone is Chase County in?
Mountain Time, unlike most of Nebraska which observes Central Time.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Nebraska.