Official Federal Data
Wayne County, Nebraska
FIPS 31179 · Population 9,844
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$66,215 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
3% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$804M ▼
GDP
30.4% ▼
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Small population: 9,844 residents. These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year estimates, which carry a wide margin of error for places under 20,000 people. Read each value as an approximate range, and treat year-over-year changes as indicative rather than exact. A small shift can reflect survey sampling, not a real change on the ground.
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$66,215 ▲
Per Capita
$32,387 ▲
Mean Household
$83,400 ▲
Poverty Rate
13.2% ▲approx.
Median Income Comparison
Wayne County$66,215
Nebraska$76,475
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 20.3%
18-34 · 34.5%
35-54 · 17.6%
55-64 · 10.8%
65+ · 16.8%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
95.3%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▲ +5.7 pts
30.4%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▼ 5.3 pts
10.9%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▼ 3.2 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
9,844
Population
5,434
Labor Force
Employed
5,198
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
3% ▲ +0.6 pts YoY
Mean Commute 13 min below national avg
13.4 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
14%
Key Takeaways
- Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
- Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 5.3 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
- Young population: Median age of 30 is materially below the U.S. norm, a workforce pipeline asset.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Manufacturing employs 693 workers (37.9% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $54,604.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $804M (2024).
- Wage stratification: Wholesale Trade averages $71,713 while Retail Trade averages $24,150, a 3.0x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
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Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Goods-Producing Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
945
Cluster Employment
1.61x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Animal Production and Aquaculture
14.42x 101
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
2.73x 101
Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
2.54x 69
Food and Beverage Retailers
1.95x 164
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods
1.67x 95
Truck Transportation
1.62x 62
1.61x 945
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.32x
Ambulatory Health Care Services
76 employed
0.39x
Specialty Trade Contractors
53 employed
0.49x
Social Assistance
63 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Animal Production and Aquaculture concentrates at 14.42x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 7 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 5 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$221,600 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$800 ▲
Rent/Mo
61.3% ▼
Owner-Occ
6% ▲
Vacancy
3.3x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$666/mo
1 Bedroom
$732/mo
2 Bedroom
$961/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,278/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,612/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$1,655/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.3x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,655/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
6,193 ▲
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 13 min below national avg
13.4 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
14%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
89%
of prime-age population
▼ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
30.4% ▼
HS Diploma+
95.3% ▼
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
20,331/yr
6,113/yr
3,604/yr
3,235/yr
2,955/yr
2,601/yr
1,823/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
17.2%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
35.5%
Service
22.7%
Sales & Office
16.9%
Construction / Maint.
6.5%
Production / Transport
18.4%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 5,198 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Short commutes: 13.4-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
- Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 12,952 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
Wayne County shows strong potential for animal production and aquaculture attraction, with a 14.42x concentration and 101 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The interconnected base across animal production and aquaculture, fabricated metal product manufacturing, and gasoline stations and fuel dealers creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Wayne County, Nebraska, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Wayne County, Nebraska?
9,844 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Wayne County, Nebraska?
$66,215 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Wayne County, Nebraska?
3% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Wayne County, Nebraska?
$804M (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
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