{"id":6007,"date":"2023-07-19T12:31:28","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T12:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=6007"},"modified":"2026-08-15T06:36:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T06:36:36","slug":"franklin-county-nebraska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/franklin-county-nebraska\/","title":{"rendered":"Franklin County, Nebraska"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Franklin County is a county in Nebraska, United States, on the Kansas border along the Republican River valley. It had a population of 2,889 at the 2020 census and covers 576 square miles (1,490 km2) centred near 40\u00b011\u2032N 98\u00b057\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Franklin is the county seat and its postal code is 68939. The county has one incorporated city, six villages and one unincorporated community. It sits in the Central time zone.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Franklin County<\/h2>\n<p>Franklin County has eight named communities: one city and six villages, plus one unincorporated place. Type key: City &middot; seat = the county seat, Village = an incorporated village, Unincorp. = an unincorporated community with no municipal government.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Franklin<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>68939<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bloomington<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>68929<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Campbell<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>68932<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hildreth<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>68947<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Naponee<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>68960<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Riverton<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>68972<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Upland<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>68981<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Macon<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>68939 &mdash; Franklin<\/li>\n<li>68929 &mdash; Bloomington<\/li>\n<li>68932 &mdash; Campbell<\/li>\n<li>68947 &mdash; Hildreth<\/li>\n<li>68960 &mdash; Naponee<\/li>\n<li>68972 &mdash; Riverton<\/li>\n<li>68981 &mdash; Upland<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Macon, the county&#8217;s unincorporated community, has no ZIP code of its own and is served by a nearby post office.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Franklin County lies in south-central Nebraska on the Kansas state line. The Republican River crosses the county from west to east, and the county&#8217;s terrain is a mix of river-bottom farmland and rolling upland prairie typical of the Republican Valley. The land is almost entirely dry &mdash; the county&#8217;s total area of 576 square miles is 576 square miles of land and only about 0.2 square miles of water, one of the lowest water shares of any Nebraska county.<\/p>\n<p>Franklin County borders Phelps County to the northwest, Kearney County to the north, Webster County to the east, Harlan County to the west, and unorganized Kansas counties across the state line to the south. Of these, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/webster-county-nebraska\/\">Webster County<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/harlan-county-nebraska\/\">Harlan County<\/a> have their own pages on this site, along with <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/phelps-county-nebraska\/\">Phelps County<\/a> to the northwest.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>The county&#8217;s population was 2,889 at the 2020 census. Franklin, the county seat, and Hildreth are the two largest communities. Median household income in Franklin County runs below the Nebraska median of $74,590, consistent with the county&#8217;s small, farm-dependent tax base. Population density is roughly 5 people per square mile, among the lower densities in the state. Like most of rural south-central Nebraska, the county&#8217;s population has declined gradually for decades as agriculture has consolidated into fewer, larger operations.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Agriculture drives Franklin County&#8217;s economy, with corn, soybeans and cattle the dominant enterprises across the Republican Valley&#8217;s irrigated bottomland and dryland upland fields. Franklin Public Schools and the county government offices in Franklin anchor local employment, and grain elevators along the rail line through Franklin and Riverton handle the harvest each fall. Harlan County Lake, just across the county line to the west, draws boating and fishing traffic that supports local shops and campgrounds in summer.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Settlers organized Franklin County in 1871 after early colonies reached the area in 1870 &mdash; the Thompson Colony founded Riverton along Thompson Creek in September 1870, and the Republican Land and Claim Association, also known as the Knight Colony, founded Franklin that November. The county was named for Benjamin Franklin. Like much of the Republican Valley, its early decades were shaped by railroad expansion and the boom-and-bust cycles of dryland wheat and corn farming that also gave rise to the county&#8217;s smaller villages, including Bloomington, Campbell, Hildreth, Naponee and Upland.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Nebraska Highway 10 runs north-south through the county and US Route 136 crosses it east-west near the Kansas line.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hastings, Nebraska &mdash; 40 miles north<\/li>\n<li>Red Cloud, Nebraska &mdash; 25 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Holdrege, Nebraska &mdash; 30 miles northwest<\/li>\n<li>Smith Center, Kansas &mdash; 30 miles south<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nearest commercial airport is Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island, about 75 miles northeast. Franklin County has no scheduled passenger rail service.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Franklin County, Nebraska?<\/strong><br \/>\nFranklin County is in south-central Nebraska on the Kansas border, in the Republican River valley.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Franklin County?<\/strong><br \/>\nFranklin County had a population of 2,889 at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Franklin County?<\/strong><br \/>\nFranklin County covers 576 square miles (1,490 km2), nearly all of it land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Franklin County?<\/strong><br \/>\nFranklin is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and villages are in Franklin County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county has one city (Franklin, the seat), six villages (Bloomington, Campbell, Hildreth, Naponee, Riverton and Upland), and the unincorporated community of Macon.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Franklin County?<\/strong><br \/>\nFranklin County&#8217;s ZIP codes are 68939 (Franklin), 68929 (Bloomington), 68932 (Campbell), 68947 (Hildreth), 68960 (Naponee), 68972 (Riverton) and 68981 (Upland).<\/p>\n<p><strong>What river runs through Franklin County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Republican River crosses Franklin County from west to east.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/nebraska\/\">Towns and villages in Nebraska<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Franklin County is a county in Nebraska, United States, on the Kansas border along the Republican River valley. It had a population of 2,889 at the 2020 census and covers 576 square miles (1,490 km2) centred near 40\u00b011\u2032N 98\u00b057\u2032W. Franklin is the county seat and its postal code is 68939. The county has one incorporated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Franklin County, Nebraska","_seopress_titles_desc":"Franklin County, Nebraska: 2020 population, ZIP codes, county seat Franklin, all 6 villages, geography, history and FAQ.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-6007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-nebraska","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6007"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9988,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6007\/revisions\/9988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}