Brown County is a sparsely populated county in north-central Nebraska, along the South Dakota border in the Sandhills and Niobrara River region. Established in the late 19th century during Nebraska’s westward settlement era, the county developed around ranching and small trade centers serving surrounding rangeland. It remains small in scale, with a population of only a few thousand residents, reflecting its largely rural character and low population density.

The landscape is dominated by rolling sandhills, native prairie, and river valleys, supporting an economy centered on cattle ranching, hay production, and related agricultural services. Communities are small and widely dispersed, and local culture is closely tied to land stewardship, agricultural traditions, and outdoor use of prairie and river environments. The county seat is Ainsworth, which functions as the primary administrative and service hub for residents across the county.

Brown County Local Demographic Profile

Brown County is a sparsely populated county in north-central Nebraska, located within the Sandhills region. The county seat is Ainsworth, and county-level demographic statistics are published through federal and state government data programs.

Population Size

Age & Gender

County-level age distribution and sex composition are reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in the county profile tables.

  • Age distribution: Reported in the ACS “Age and Sex” tables accessible via the Brown County, Nebraska profile on data.census.gov (see “Age and Sex” / ACS subject tables).
  • Gender (sex) ratio: Sex composition is also reported through the same U.S. Census Bureau county profile and detailed tables on data.census.gov.

Racial & Ethnic Composition

The county’s racial and Hispanic/Latino origin distributions are published in U.S. Census Bureau county profile tables and detailed ACS tables.

Household & Housing Data

Household characteristics and housing stock indicators are published through ACS county-level tables and summarized on the county profile.

Local Government Reference

For county administrative information and local planning context, the Brown County, Nebraska official website provides county government contacts and services.

Email Usage

Brown County, Nebraska is a sparsely populated rural county where long distances between towns and limited last‑mile infrastructure can constrain reliable home internet service, shaping how residents access email (often via mobile connections or public access points). Direct county-level email usage statistics are not typically published; email access is commonly inferred from digital access proxies.

Digital access indicators are available through the U.S. Census Bureau (data.census.gov), including American Community Survey measures such as household broadband subscriptions and computer availability, which correlate with the practicality of routine email use. Age structure also matters: older age distributions are generally associated with lower adoption of some online services, while working-age households more often maintain home broadband and multiple devices; county age profiles are available via U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts. Gender distribution is measurable in the same sources but is typically a weaker predictor of email access than connectivity and age.

Connectivity limitations in rural Nebraska commonly reflect fewer providers, longer copper loops, and higher per‑household buildout costs; local context is documented by the Brown County government and statewide broadband resources such as the Nebraska Broadband Office.

Mobile Phone Usage

Brown County is in north-central Nebraska along the South Dakota border, with the county seat at Ainsworth. It is predominantly rural, with low population density and large areas of agricultural and rangeland. This settlement pattern—small towns separated by long distances, limited vertical infrastructure, and substantial “last‑mile” distances—tends to shape mobile connectivity by increasing the cost per subscriber of building dense cell networks and by making coverage more dependent on tower siting along highways and near towns rather than continuous, uniform service across all land.

Key distinction: network availability vs. household adoption

Network availability refers to where mobile providers report service (coverage) and what technologies are deployed (e.g., LTE/4G, 5G).
Household adoption refers to whether residents subscribe to mobile service, own smartphones, and use mobile broadband as their primary or supplemental internet connection.

County-level measurement of adoption and device mix is limited and often only available through modeled survey estimates or multi-county/rural categories rather than direct administrative counts. The primary authoritative sources for availability are federal coverage maps and provider filings.

Network availability (coverage) in Brown County

Reported mobile broadband coverage (FCC)

The most comprehensive public source for reported mobile broadband availability is the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection (BDC) and the associated mapping tools. These maps show provider-reported coverage by technology and location, and are best used to identify where coverage is reported rather than how well it performs in practice.

Important limitation: FCC availability data can overstate real-world usability, especially in rural terrain and fringe areas, because it reflects modeled coverage claims rather than consistent on-the-ground performance (signal strength indoors, congestion, and backhaul constraints).

4G/LTE availability

Across rural Nebraska counties, LTE is the baseline mobile broadband technology and is the most widely reported technology on FCC maps. In Brown County, LTE coverage is generally strongest around Ainsworth and along major travel corridors; coverage gaps and weaker service are more common in sparsely populated areas away from towns and highways (as typically reflected in reported coverage boundaries on the FCC map).

Limitation: County-specific, independently verified LTE performance metrics (speed/latency distributions) are not consistently published by the federal government at the county level for public reference.

5G availability

5G deployment in rural counties is often more limited than in urban areas, with coverage typically concentrated in or near towns and along higher-traffic corridors. For Brown County, the authoritative public reference for where providers report 5G is the FCC map layer for 5G technologies within the National Broadband Map.

Limitation: Public sources do not provide a single county-level, provider-neutral breakdown of 5G spectrum type (low-band vs mid-band) and typical user experience; provider marketing maps are not standardized for comparison.

Household adoption and mobile access indicators (measured use, not coverage)

Smartphone and mobile-only internet adoption (survey-based)

County-level statistics for smartphone ownership and “mobile-only” internet use are not consistently published as official single-county tables in a way that cleanly isolates Brown County alone. The most common public measurement framework is the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), which can provide:

  • Household internet subscription types (including cellular data plan as an internet subscription)
  • Device availability (desktop/laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc., depending on table/year)
  • Household demographics that correlate with adoption (age distribution, income, education)

These indicators are available via:

Important limitation: For a sparsely populated county, ACS estimates can have wide margins of error, and some device-specific indicators may be suppressed or statistically unreliable at the single-county level.

Mobile penetration (subscriptions per capita)

Counts of mobile subscriptions per capita are typically compiled by private industry sources or require access to carrier-reported data that is not published as a county-level series. The FCC does not publish a straightforward “mobile penetration rate” by county comparable to fixed broadband subscription rates. As a result, a definitive county-level mobile penetration figure for Brown County is not available from standard public administrative datasets.

Mobile internet usage patterns (technology use vs. adoption)

Adoption of cellular data plans as an internet subscription (ACS)

The ACS includes a category for households with an internet subscription via cellular data plan. This is the best standardized public measure to separate:

  • Availability: presence of mobile coverage (FCC maps)
  • Adoption: households reporting cellular data plans used for internet access (ACS)

Access to Brown County’s ACS “internet subscription” detail is through data.census.gov, using tables covering internet subscriptions by type.

Limitation: The ACS does not directly report 4G vs 5G household adoption; it reports subscription type (cellular data plan) rather than radio technology.

Practical rural usage characteristics (documented general constraints)

In rural counties like Brown County, mobile broadband use is often shaped by:

  • Tower spacing and terrain/vegetation effects on signal propagation
  • Indoor coverage challenges due to greater distances from sites and fewer small cells
  • Backhaul availability (fiber/microwave) affecting performance during peak times

These are recognized general rural network engineering constraints, but public county-specific measurements (e.g., indoor signal reliability by census block) are not generally published in an authoritative, comprehensive format.

Common device types (smartphones vs. other devices)

What can be measured publicly

The most consistent public source for device access at the household level is the ACS, which can capture whether households have:

  • Smartphones
  • Computers (desktop/laptop)
  • Tablets or other computing devices (availability depends on ACS table structure for the year)

Device-type indicators can be retrieved through data.census.gov.

Limitation: Public, county-specific shares of “smartphone vs feature phone” ownership are generally not available from government sources. Most smartphone/feature-phone splits are measured by private surveys, typically not released at the county level.

Likely device mix characterization (without county-specific quantification)

Authoritative, county-level quantification of smartphone share is limited. The most defensible statement supported by publicly available measurement frameworks is that smartphone access is captured in ACS household device tables, while feature-phone prevalence is not well captured in public county tables.

Demographic and geographic factors influencing mobile usage in Brown County

Rurality and settlement pattern

  • Low density and dispersed housing tend to reduce the economic incentive for dense tower grids and small-cell deployments, reinforcing reliance on macro-tower coverage and increasing the likelihood of coverage variability away from towns.
  • Service tends to be strongest in population centers (Ainsworth and other small communities) and along transportation corridors, consistent with typical rural deployment patterns.

General county context (population, geography, and community locations) can be referenced through:

Age structure, income, and educational attainment (adoption drivers)

Across U.S. rural counties, mobile adoption and smartphone reliance often correlate with:

  • Older age profiles (often associated with lower smartphone-only reliance)
  • Lower median income (associated with higher sensitivity to plan costs and device replacement cycles)
  • Education and digital skills distribution (associated with variations in device usage and online activity)

For Brown County, these factors are measurable through ACS demographic tables on data.census.gov. The data supports describing demographic structure; it does not directly attribute causality to mobile usage without specialized surveys.

Fixed broadband availability interactions (mobile as primary vs supplemental)

In rural areas, limited fixed broadband options can increase the role of mobile service as either:

  • the primary household internet connection, or
  • a supplemental connection where fixed speeds are limited.

Fixed broadband availability and mobile availability can be compared using the FCC National Broadband Map, while household subscription types (including cellular data plans) are available via data.census.gov.

Nebraska and local planning context (non-coverage program references)

Nebraska broadband planning and mapping efforts can provide additional context and may publish statewide or regional analyses that include rural counties, though not always at a Brown County-specific level.

  • Nebraska broadband information and state-level initiatives: Nebraska state government portal (entry point to state agencies and broadband-related resources where available)

Limitation: State broadband materials often emphasize fixed broadband planning and grant programs; mobile-specific adoption metrics at the county level are commonly limited.

Summary of what is known vs. not available publicly at county granularity

  • Well-supported (availability): Provider-reported LTE/5G coverage footprints for Brown County via the FCC National Broadband Map.
  • Partially supported (adoption): Household internet subscription type (including cellular data plan) and some device access indicators via ACS on data.census.gov, with reliability constraints due to small sample sizes.
  • Not reliably available publicly (county-specific): A definitive “mobile penetration rate” (subscriptions per capita), precise smartphone vs feature-phone splits, and standardized countywide 4G/5G usage shares based on actual device connections.

Social Media Trends

Brown County is in north‑central Nebraska along the South Dakota border and includes Ainsworth (the county seat) and Valentine-area regional linkages. The county’s economy is largely tied to ranching and agriculture, with dispersed settlements and long travel distances typical of the Sandhills region. These characteristics generally align with lower broadband availability and a heavier reliance on smartphones and community-based information channels compared with metropolitan areas.

User statistics (penetration and active use)

  • County-level social media penetration is not routinely published by major survey organizations; publicly available estimates are typically state or national. Brown County’s usage is best contextualized using Nebraska rural connectivity and national adoption patterns.
  • National baseline: About 69% of U.S. adults use at least one social media site (Pew Research Center, 2023). Source: Pew Research Center: Social Media Use in 2023.
  • Local access context affecting usage: Rural counties commonly face lower household broadband availability, which can constrain platform choice and video-heavy use. Nebraska broadband context is tracked by federal datasets such as the FCC National Broadband Map (location-specific availability).

Age group trends (who uses social media most)

National patterns that typically carry into rural Great Plains counties:

  • Ages 18–29: Highest overall use across major platforms.
  • Ages 30–49: High use, especially for Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
  • Ages 50–64: Moderate-to-high use, particularly Facebook and YouTube.
  • Ages 65+: Lower overall use, with Facebook and YouTube most common among users. Reference (platform-by-age detail): Pew Research Center social platform adoption tables (2023).

Gender breakdown

Nationally reported gender differences that are commonly observed in local communities:

  • Women tend to have higher usage rates for Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
  • Men tend to have higher usage for YouTube and are more represented on some discussion- and forum-oriented spaces, while many platforms show relatively small gender gaps overall. Reference: Pew Research Center: Social Media Use in 2023.

Most‑used platforms (percentages)

County-specific platform shares are not available from standard public surveys; the most defensible percentages are national adult adoption rates (often used as a benchmark for rural counties with similar demographics and connectivity constraints):

Behavioral trends (engagement and preferences)

  • Community information focus: In rural counties, Facebook commonly functions as a primary hub for local announcements, school activities, weather closures, and community events, with engagement concentrated in pages and groups rather than brand accounts.
  • Video and how‑to consumption: YouTube is widely used across age groups for practical content (repairs, agriculture/ranch-related topics, news clips), aligning with its high national reach.
  • Messaging-led sharing: Rural users often share information via private messaging (Messenger/SMS) rather than public posting, especially for local coordination and community updates; Pew notes broader U.S. patterns of using social platforms for keeping in touch and consuming news, varying by age.
  • Platform preference by age: Short-form video platforms (notably TikTok) skew younger, while Facebook remains comparatively stronger among older adults; this produces a two-track attention pattern where community information concentrates on Facebook and entertainment/video discovery trends younger. Reference for U.S. behavior and usage context: Pew Research Center reporting on social media usage and demographics (2023).

Family & Associates Records

Brown County family-related records primarily include vital records (birth and death) created under Nebraska’s statewide system, plus court records that can document family relationships (probate/estates, guardianship, and some name-change matters). Birth and death certificates are maintained by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Vital Records Office, rather than the county; access is generally limited to eligible requesters and requires identity/relationship documentation. See Nebraska DHHS Vital Records: Nebraska Vital Records (DHHS). Adoption records in Nebraska are generally confidential and handled through the courts and state systems, with access restricted by statute.

Brown County court filings that may reference family members and associates include probate cases, guardianships/conservatorships, and other civil matters. These records are filed locally with the clerk of the district court. Contact and office information is provided by the county: Brown County, Nebraska (official site).

Public database access is primarily provided through Nebraska’s statewide judiciary portal for case searches (coverage varies by case type and privacy rules): Nebraska Justice Case Search. In-person access to nonconfidential court files is typically available during office hours through the Brown County Clerk of the District Court; certified copies are issued under court and state procedures.

Privacy restrictions commonly apply to adoption, juvenile matters, and certain vital records and sealed court files.

Marriage & Divorce Records

Types of records available

Marriage records (licenses/certificates)

  • Marriage license/application: Created when a couple applies to marry in Brown County and is issued by the county office responsible for marriage licensing (the County Clerk’s office in Nebraska counties).
  • Marriage certificate/return: The completed proof of marriage returned by the officiant and recorded by the county after the ceremony.

Divorce records (decrees/case files)

  • Divorce decree (final decree): The court’s final judgment dissolving the marriage, issued in a civil case.
  • Divorce case file: The underlying court file may include pleadings, summons, settlement agreements, parenting plans, child support orders, and related motions and orders.

Annulment records

  • Annulment decree/order: A court order declaring a marriage void or voidable under Nebraska law, maintained as a civil court case record similar in structure to a divorce file.

Where records are filed and how they can be accessed

Marriage records: county recording and state vital records

  • Filed/recorded locally: Marriage license records and the completed marriage return are recorded in Brown County at the county office that issues marriage licenses (County Clerk).
  • Statewide custody/indexing: Nebraska vital events are also maintained at the state level by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Vital Records.
  • Access routes:
    • County level: Requests are typically made through the Brown County office that holds marriage license records.
    • State level: Certified copies and verifications are commonly obtained through Nebraska DHHS Vital Records.

Divorce and annulment records: district court (court of record)

  • Filed with the court: Divorce and annulment actions are filed and adjudicated in the Nebraska District Court serving Brown County, and the official record is the court case file.
  • Access routes:
    • Court clerk access: Case files and decrees are accessed through the clerk of the district court (in-person and/or by written request practices vary by court).
    • State vital statistics: Nebraska maintains a divorce record index/verification at the state vital records office for qualifying requesters, separate from the full court file.

Typical information included in these records

Marriage license/certificate records

  • Full legal names of both parties (including maiden name where applicable)
  • Date and place of marriage (county/city/venue information reflected on the return)
  • Date the license was issued and date the marriage was solemnized
  • Ages or dates of birth (varies by form and era)
  • Residences and places of birth (commonly included on applications)
  • Names of officiant and witnesses (as listed on the return/certificate)
  • Recording information (book/page or instrument number, depending on recording system)

Divorce and annulment decrees/case files

  • Names of the parties and case number
  • Filing date and court location
  • Grounds/allegations and procedural history (in pleadings)
  • Date of decree and terms of judgment
  • Property division and debt allocation terms
  • Name changes ordered by the court (when requested and granted)
  • Child-related orders when applicable (custody, parenting time, child support, medical support)
  • Sealing/redaction notations and confidential addenda where required by rule or statute

Privacy or legal restrictions

Marriage records

  • Marriage records are generally treated as public records at the county level, but access to certified copies is commonly limited to eligible individuals and uses, consistent with Nebraska vital records administration practices.
  • Identifying information on applications may be subject to administrative controls, redaction practices, or limitations on the release of certain data elements.

Divorce and annulment records

  • Court records are generally public, but Nebraska court rules and statutes restrict disclosure of specific categories of information.
  • Common restrictions include:
    • Confidential personal identifiers (such as Social Security numbers and certain financial account identifiers) subject to redaction requirements.
    • Sensitive family-law information: Materials involving minors, abuse protection matters, and certain reports or evaluations may be restricted or filed as confidential.
    • Sealed records: A court may order all or part of a case file sealed; sealed portions are not available to the public except as authorized by court order.
  • State-level vital records offices typically provide verification/index information for divorces rather than the complete decree; the full decree is obtained from the court record.

Record status and evidentiary use

  • County-recorded marriage records and district court decrees are the authoritative local sources for legal proof of marriage, divorce, or annulment in Brown County.
  • Certified copies used for legal purposes are issued by the custodian agency (county vital record custodian for marriage; district court clerk for decrees; state vital records for eligible vital record products).

Education, Employment and Housing

Brown County is in north‑central Nebraska on the South Dakota border. The county seat is Ainsworth, and the county is largely rural with a small‑town service economy supporting agriculture and outdoor recreation. Population levels are low and dispersed outside Ainsworth, which shapes school consolidation, commuting distances, and a housing stock dominated by single‑family homes.

Education Indicators

Public schools (districts and schools)

  • Brown County’s public education is primarily served by Ainsworth Community Schools (based in Ainsworth) and smaller surrounding service areas that feed into regional systems. A current, authoritative list of district boundaries and school entities is maintained through the Nebraska Department of Education directory and district profiles (see the Nebraska Department of Education and its district/school information tools).
  • School names and counts vary by configuration and consolidation (elementary/middle/high combined campuses are common in rural Nebraska). Specific “number of public schools” and school‑by‑school names should be verified against the NDE directory for the most current year because openings/closures and grade reconfigurations occur periodically.

Student–teacher ratios and graduation rates

  • County‑level student–teacher ratios and graduation rates are not consistently published as a single county aggregate. The most reliable and comparable figures are reported at the district and school level through Nebraska accountability/reporting systems (NDE).
  • For a countywide proxy, rural Nebraska districts commonly operate with lower student–teacher ratios than urban areas due to small enrollment, but exact ratios and cohort graduation rates for Brown County should be taken from district report cards rather than inferred.

Adult educational attainment

  • The most recent standardized source for adult educational attainment is the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). County estimates are available through data.census.gov (search “Brown County, Nebraska educational attainment”).
  • Brown County’s attainment profile generally reflects rural Nebraska patterns: a large share with a high school diploma or some college, and a smaller share with a bachelor’s degree or higher compared with state and national averages. Precise current percentages are reported in the ACS county table for “Educational Attainment (Population 25 years and over).”

Notable programs (STEM, vocational training, Advanced Placement)

  • Nebraska high schools commonly provide Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways (e.g., agriculture, trades/industrial tech, business/IT, health), and many districts participate in regional dual‑credit arrangements with Nebraska community colleges or universities. District‑specific offerings (including Advanced Placement, CTE concentrator pathways, and STEM activities) are best documented in local district course catalogs and NDE CTE documentation rather than in county aggregates.
  • In rural counties, vocational training frequently emphasizes agriculture mechanics, welding/industrial arts, transportation, and health support occupations, aligned with local labor demand.

School safety measures and counseling resources

  • Nebraska districts generally operate under district safety plans, required training and emergency procedures, and standard student support staffing (counselors and/or school social work services depending on enrollment). The most comparable public references are district policy manuals and state guidance; statewide context is available through NDE resources and related state programs (see the Nebraska Department of Education).
  • Small districts often rely on shared services (e.g., contracted counseling, regional educational service units) to deliver specialized student supports.

Employment and Economic Conditions

Unemployment rate (most recent available)

  • The most widely used official unemployment figures are produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS). Brown County’s latest annual and monthly unemployment rates are available via BLS LAUS.
  • County unemployment in rural Nebraska typically tracks relatively low unemployment with seasonal variation tied to agriculture, construction, and tourism/recreation; the definitive “most recent year” value should be read directly from LAUS for Brown County.

Major industries and employment sectors

  • Brown County’s employment base is characteristic of rural north‑central Nebraska:
    • Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (ranching and related operations)
    • Public administration and education/health services (county government, schools, clinics)
    • Retail trade and accommodation/food services (local‑serving, including recreation/tourism)
    • Construction and transportation/warehousing (regional movement of goods and local building activity)
  • Industry detail and shares by sector are available from the Census “County Business Patterns” and ACS “Industry by Occupation” tables via data.census.gov.

Common occupations and workforce breakdown

  • Common occupational groupings in similar rural Nebraska counties include:
    • Management/business and office/administrative support (local government, school and healthcare administration, small business)
    • Sales and service (retail, food service, lodging)
    • Transportation and material moving (trucking, equipment operation)
    • Construction/extraction and installation/maintenance/repair (trades)
    • Farming, fishing, and forestry (smaller headcount than agricultural output suggests, due to mechanization and family operations)
  • The most consistent county occupation breakdown comes from ACS occupational tables (search “Brown County, Nebraska occupation” at data.census.gov).

Commuting patterns and mean commute time

  • Brown County’s settlement pattern produces longer rural commutes for some workers and shorter commutes for those living and working in Ainsworth.
  • The ACS provides the county’s mean travel time to work (minutes) and commuting modes (drive alone, carpool, etc.) through data.census.gov. Rural Nebraska counties commonly show high “drive alone” shares and limited public transit usage.

Local employment vs. out‑of‑county work

  • County‑to‑county commuting flows are best measured using the Census Bureau’s LEHD/OnTheMap tools, which summarize where residents work and where workers live (see OnTheMap).
  • Rural counties frequently have a notable share of residents working outside the county in nearby trade centers for healthcare, education, and specialized services, while the county draws workers into Ainsworth for schools, county services, and local businesses.

Housing and Real Estate

Homeownership rate and rental share

  • The official county homeownership rate and renter share are published by the ACS “Tenure” tables on data.census.gov.
  • Brown County’s rural housing profile typically skews toward higher homeownership than urban counties, with rentals concentrated in the county seat.

Median property values and recent trends

  • Median home value for owner‑occupied housing units is reported in ACS tables (search “Brown County, Nebraska median value owner-occupied” on data.census.gov).
  • Recent trends in rural Nebraska generally show moderate appreciation compared with metro markets, with variability driven by interest rates, limited inventory, and local income conditions. County‑specific trend lines are best drawn from multi‑year ACS series rather than short‑term sales data, which can be volatile at low transaction counts.

Typical rent prices

  • Median gross rent is available from ACS tables (search “Brown County, Nebraska median gross rent” on data.census.gov).
  • Rural county rents tend to be lower than state metro areas, with smaller multifamily supply and more single‑family or duplex rentals in town.

Types of housing

  • The housing stock is predominantly:
    • Single‑family detached homes (in Ainsworth and on rural parcels)
    • Manufactured housing (common in rural areas)
    • Small multifamily (duplexes and small apartment buildings) primarily in Ainsworth
    • Acreages and rural lots used for ranching-related housing and dispersed residences
  • The ACS “Units in Structure” table provides the authoritative breakdown by structure type.

Neighborhood characteristics (proximity to schools or amenities)

  • Ainsworth concentrates county amenities: public schools, county services, retail, and healthcare access, with housing near the town core generally offering shorter trips to schools and services. Outside Ainsworth, neighborhoods are defined by rural road networks, larger parcels, and longer travel times to services.

Property tax overview (rate and typical cost)

  • Nebraska relies heavily on property taxes for local services. County‑level property tax information is best sourced from the Nebraska Department of Revenue and local assessor/treasurer reporting. Statewide and county context are available through the Nebraska Department of Revenue, Property Assessment Division reports.
  • In rural Nebraska counties, effective tax rates vary by school district levies, valuation changes, and classification (residential vs. agricultural). The most defensible “typical homeowner cost” is computed from county residential valuations and levy rates reported by state and county offices rather than from real estate listings, which are not comprehensive.

Data note: Several requested indicators (notably student–teacher ratios, graduation rates, and program availability) are most accurate at the district/school level rather than as a county aggregate in Nebraska. For Brown County, the definitive current figures are maintained through the Nebraska Department of Education’s district/school reporting systems and the U.S. Census Bureau’s ACS for community socioeconomic and housing measures.

Table of Contents

Other Counties in Nebraska