Dakota County, Nebraska

Dakota County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,582, and was estimated to be 21,687 in 2025.

Dakota County is part of the Sioux City metropolitan area.

In the Nebraska license plate system, Dakota County was represented by the prefix "70" (as it had the 70th-largest number of vehicles registered in the state when the license plate system was established in 1922). In August 2009, the Dakota County Board of Commissioners reversed a decision to abandon this system for alphanumeric plates upon introduction of new license plates in 2011. Douglas, Lancaster, and Sarpy Counties remain the only counties with alphanumeric plates in the state.

History

Succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples lived along the Missouri River for millennia. By 1775, the Omaha people had migrated west of the Missouri, where they established a major settlement, Ton-wa-tonga, (the Big Village). It had some 1100 residents. From here, the Omaha controlled fur trading on the upper Missouri River with other tribes and with French-Canadian traders, often called voyageurs. The Omaha were the first of the Northern Plains tribes to have adopted an equestrian culture.

Dakota County was formed by European-American settlers in 1855. They named it after the Dakota Sioux tribe, who were powerful in the area of Nebraska and South Dakota at the time. By this time, the Omaha were concentrated further south in what became the state of Nebraska.

In 1885, the county went to the United States Supreme Court in Dakota County v. Glidden over a dispute with issuing bonds.

As of May 2020, the county had the second-highest per capita COVID-19 infection rate of any American county. About one of every 14 residents has tested positive, mostly at Tyson's large meat packing plant in Dakota City. There were 1452 cases reported as of May 11, 2020. This had increased by July 4, 2020, to 1634 cases, and 38 deaths, giving Dakota County the highest per capita death rate to that date.

Geography

thumb|Dakota county and features

Dakota County lies on the northeast line of the Nebraska state line. Its northeast boundary line abuts the southwest boundary lines of the states of South Dakota and Iowa, across the Missouri River. The county terrain consists of rolling prairies and bottom lands.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.12%) is water. It is the second-smallest county in Nebraska by total area.

Major highways

25px Interstate 129
20px U.S. Highway 20
20px U.S. Highway 75
20px U.S. Highway 77
20px Nebraska Highway 9
20px Nebraska Highway 12
20px Nebraska Highway 35
20px Nebraska Highway 110

Transit

Sioux City Transit

Adjacent counties

[[File:Dakota County.svg|thumb|358x358px|Flag of Dakota County (Via CWflags)]]Union County, South Dakota - northeast
Woodbury County, Iowa - east
Thurston County - south
Dixon County - west

Demographics

As of the third quarter of 2025, the median home value in Dakota County was $184,986.

As of the 2024 American Community Survey, there are 7,459 estimated households in Dakota County with an average of 2.84 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $70,329. Approximately 11.5% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Dakota County has an estimated 67.9% employment rate, with 14.6% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 78.7% holding a high school diploma. !! Pop. 1990 !! Pop. 2000 !! Pop. 2010 !!

| White alone (NH)

| 15,814 (95.42%) || 14,996 (89.57%) || 14,368 (70.94%) || 11,596 (55.20%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |9,347 (43.31%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 51 (0.31%) || 74 (0.44%) || 111 (0.55%) || 641 (3.05%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1,603 (7.43%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 177 (1.07%) || 294 (1.76%) || 339 (1.67%) || 466 (2.22%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |526 (2.44%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 46 (0.28%) || 336 (2.01%) || 619 (3.06%) || 621 (2.96%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |602 (2.79%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 8 (0.04%) || 43 (0.20%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |154 (0.71%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 0 (0.00%) || 26 (0.16%) || 7 (0.03%) || 4 (0.02%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |33 (0.15%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 220 (1.09%) || 216 (1.03%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |506 (2.34%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 485 (2.93%) || 1,016 (6.07%) || 4,581 (22.62%) || 7,419 (35.32%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |8,811 (40.83%)

| Total

| 16,573 (100.00%) || 16,742 (100.00%) || 20,253 (100.00%) || 21,006 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |21,582 (100.00%)

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 21,335 people, 7,459 households, and _ families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 7,808 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 79.4% White (40.5% NH White), 9.3% African American, 4.4% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 0.9% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 42.7% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 21,582 people, 7,400 households, and 5,203 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 7,765 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 51.10% White, 7.47% African American, 3.29% Native American, 2.82% Asian, 0.71% Pacific Islander, 19.35% from some other races and 15.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 40.83% of the population.

The median age was 33.4 years. 29.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.2 males age 18 and over.

79.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 20.6% lived in rural areas.

There were 7,400 households in the county, of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 24.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Education

School districts include:

Emerson-Hubbard Public Schools, Emerson
Allen Consolidated Schools, Allen
Homer Community Schools, Homer
Ponca Public Schools, Ponca
South Sioux City Community Schools, South Sioux City