Dakota County is a county in Nebraska, United States, on the Missouri River at the state’s northeast corner across from Iowa and South Dakota. It had a population of 21,582 at the 2020 census and covers 267 square miles (693 km2) centred near 42°23′N 96°34′W.<\/p>\n
Dakota City is the county seat, and its postal code is 68731. The county has 2 cities, 3 villages and several unincorporated communities, sits in the Central time zone, and forms part of the Sioux City, IA–NE–SD metropolitan area.<\/p>\n
Dakota County has two incorporated cities and three villages, plus a handful of unincorporated communities and trailer-court settlements along the Missouri River bottoms. Emerson straddles the Dakota–Dixon county line. In the table below, CDP means census-designated place and Unincorp. means an unincorporated community with no municipal government.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota City<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 68731<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| South Sioux City<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 68776<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Emerson<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 68733<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Homer<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 68030<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hubbard<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 68741<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jackson<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 68743<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Goodwin<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Nacora<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Willis<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Freeway Homes<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lake Village Trailer Court<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Millis Beach<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| North Shore<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shady Elm Trailer Court<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Emerson is split by the Dakota–Dixon county line, with most of the village lying in Dixon County; both counties list it in official records. The trailer-court communities (Lake Village, Shady Elm) and the beach settlements (Millis Beach, North Shore) are riverside residential clusters near the Missouri, not incorporated municipalities.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nThe smaller unincorporated riverside communities have no dedicated post office and use the ZIP code of the nearest listed town.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nDakota County sits on the Missouri River floodplain in Nebraska’s northeast corner, with bluffs rising along the river’s western bank and flat bottomland along the Iowa and South Dakota state lines. It is the second-smallest county in Nebraska by land area. The Missouri River forms the county’s entire eastern and northern boundary.<\/p>\n |