Lincoln County

Lincoln County, Nebraska — key demographics (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2018–2022 5-year estimates)

Population

• Total population: ~35,000
• Population trend: relatively stable over the past decade

Age

• Median age: ~40 years
• Under 18: ~24%
• 18–24: ~8%
• 25–44: ~25%
• 45–64: ~25%
• 65 and older: ~18%

Gender

• Male: ~51%
• Female: ~49%

Race and ethnicity

• White (non-Hispanic): ~83%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~11–12%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic): ~3%
• American Indian/Alaska Native (non-Hispanic): ~1–2%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic): ~1–2%
• Asian (non-Hispanic): <1%

Households

• Total households: ~14,300
• Average household size: ~2.4
• Family households: ~62% of households
• Married-couple households: ~48% of households
• Households with children under 18: ~28%
• Nonfamily households: ~38% (about 31% living alone)
• Homeownership rate: ~70%

Insights

• The county skews older than the state average, with a sizable 65+ share and a median age around 40.
• Population is predominantly White non-Hispanic, with a meaningful Hispanic/Latino community.
• Household composition is family-oriented with high owner-occupancy and modest household size.

Lincoln County, NE email usage (modeled from recent Census ACS and Pew Research):

• Estimated email users: about 25,000 adults (roughly 72–76% of all residents; about 92–94% of adults).
• Age distribution of email users:
  • 18–29: about 17% of users (use near-universal)
  • 30–49: about 33% (very high use)
  • 50–64: about 27% (high use)
  • 65+: about 23% (lower but rising)
• Gender split among users: roughly 50% female, 50% male (usage parity).

Digital access and device trends:

• Households with any internet subscription: about 85%.
• Fixed broadband (cable/DSL/fiber) at home: about 78–82%.
• Smartphone-only internet households: about 12–15%.
• Device access among adults: smartphones about 90%+, computers about 80%, tablets about 55–60%.
• Notable trend: steady gains in email adoption among residents 65+, driven by telehealth, banking, and government services; fiber and 5G expansions improve reliability in population centers.

Local density and connectivity facts:

• Population about 34,500 across about 2,575 square miles (about 13–14 people per square mile).
• Around two-thirds of residents live in or near North Platte, where broadband options are densest; rural precincts rely more on DSL, fixed wireless, or satellite, which correlates with slightly lower email use among the oldest cohort.

Mobile phone usage in Lincoln County, Nebraska — 2024 snapshot

Scope and scale

• Population and households: About 35–36 thousand residents and roughly 14–15 thousand households, spread over a large, predominantly rural area centered on North Platte and the I-80/US-83 corridors.

User estimates

• Adult mobile users (any cellphone): ~25–27 thousand adults, representing roughly 92–95% of the adult population.
• Adult smartphone users: ~22–24 thousand adults, or about 82–88% of adults. This trails Nebraska’s statewide adult smartphone adoption by approximately 2–4 percentage points, largely due to an older age profile and higher rural residence.
• Household smartphone access: Approximately 85–90% of households report having at least one smartphone.
• Cellular-as-primary internet: Around 8–12% of households rely primarily on a cellular data plan for home internet, higher than Nebraska overall (about 5–7%), reflecting gaps in affordable fixed broadband.

Demographic breakdown (adoption and reliance)

• Age
  • 18–34: Very high smartphone adoption (~95–97%); more likely to be smartphone-first for internet.
  • 35–64: High adoption (~88–93%); split between fixed broadband and mobile data use.
  • 65+: Lower adoption (~70–78%), 3–6 points below the statewide rate; a notable share use basic/feature phones or tablets with cellular plans rather than smartphones.
• Income and education
  • Households under $35k: Higher smartphone-only internet reliance (roughly 25–32%) versus the state (about 20–25%), driven by cost of fixed service and device financing constraints.
  • Postsecondary-educated households show the highest multi-device penetration and fixed-plus-mobile bundles; high-school-or-less households show the highest mobile-only dependence.
• Race/ethnicity
  • Hispanic and Native households in the county exhibit higher smartphone-only rates (by roughly 5–8 points) than White non-Hispanic households, mirroring statewide equity gaps but more pronounced locally due to rural infrastructure gaps.
• Urban vs rural within the county
  • North Platte and communities along I-80 show near-statewide adoption levels and more 5G use.
  • Outlying rural areas show slightly lower smartphone penetration but markedly higher cellular-as-primary internet and hotspot use.

Digital infrastructure and performance

• Coverage
  • 4G LTE: All three national carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon) cover North Platte and the I-80/Platte River corridor; 4G coverage in outlying north and southwest parts of the county is patchier with occasional dead zones.
  • 5G: Widest low-band 5G coverage from T-Mobile; AT&T and Verizon offer low-band/DSS 5G in and around North Platte and along I-80. Mid-band 5G (e.g., T-Mobile n41) is present in core population centers; mmWave is negligible.
• Speeds and latency (user-experienced, 2023–2024)
  • Typical county median downloads: ~35–70 Mbps (lower outside towns); statewide medians more often ~80–120 Mbps.
  • Uploads: ~5–15 Mbps in county vs ~10–25 Mbps statewide.
  • Latency: ~30–60 ms in county, trending higher in rural cells due to larger inter-site distances.
• Capacity and resiliency
  • Capacity is strongest near North Platte, interchanges, and schools/healthcare sites.
  • Seasonal strain is noticeable along I-80 travel peaks and summer recreation; rural sites can become spectrum-limited during events or outages.
• Fixed broadband interplay
  • Fiber and cable are concentrated in and around North Platte; areas beyond the main corridors still depend on DSL, fixed wireless, or satellite. This pushes higher mobile hotspot and smartphone-only reliance than the state average and drives higher data plan utilization.

Trends that differ from Nebraska statewide

• Higher mobile dependence: A larger share of households in Lincoln County use mobile data as their primary or only internet, and hotspot use is measurably higher than the state average.
• Slightly lower senior smartphone adoption: The county’s older population share leads to a 3–6 point gap versus statewide senior smartphone ownership.
• Greater rural performance disparity: The county shows a wider spread between town-corridor performance and outlying rural performance than the state aggregate, with more frequent 4G fallbacks and capacity constraints outside population centers.
• Prepaid and budget plans: Prepaid adoption and bring-your-own-device plans are more common than statewide, reflecting price sensitivity and flexible usage needs where fixed broadband is limited.
• 5G experience skewed to low-band: Users see broad 5G availability but more often on low-band layers, so the median 5G speed uplift versus 4G is smaller than the statewide average where mid-band is more prevalent.

Actionable implications

• Mobile network investment that extends mid-band 5G beyond North Platte (additional sectors, carrier aggregation, and rural small cells) will materially narrow the county–state performance gap.
• Continued fixed broadband buildouts (fiber and licensed fixed wireless) will reduce smartphone-only and hotspot reliance, especially for students and seniors.
• Targeted device affordability and digital skills programs for older and lower-income residents can raise adoption to match or exceed statewide benchmarks.

Social media in Lincoln County, Nebraska — concise snapshot

What exists as hard data

• Digital access: Household broadband subscription is high for rural Nebraska (roughly mid‑80s to high‑80s percent of households; U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023, statewide and county profiles). Smartphone ownership among U.S. adults is ~90% (Pew, 2024), enabling near‑universal access among connected residents.
• Adult social-media adoption (benchmark): About 7 in 10 U.S. adults use at least one social platform (Pew, 2024), a rate that typically holds in rural counties with strong broadband like Lincoln County.

Estimated platform reach among adults in Lincoln County (share of adults; benchmarked to rural U.S. patterns from Pew 2024 with rural adjustments)

• YouTube: 80–85%
• Facebook: 70–75%
• Instagram: 35–45%
• Snapchat: 25–35%
• TikTok: 25–35%
• Pinterest: 25–35% (skews female)
• LinkedIn: 20–25% (concentrated among healthcare, education, transportation, government)
• X/Twitter: 15–25%
• WhatsApp: 15–20% (pockets among multilingual and shift‑work communities)
• Reddit: 10–15%
• Nextdoor: <10%

Age profile (share using any social media; rural U.S. benchmarks applied)

• 18–29: 85–90%
• 30–49: 80–85%
• 50–64: 70–75%
• 65+: 45–50%
• Teens (13–17): Heavy daily use; platform mix led by Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram.

Gender breakdown (directionally consistent with national use patterns)

• Overall usage: women slightly higher than men.
• Platform skews: Facebook and Pinterest skew female; YouTube, Reddit, and X skew male; Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok are near‑balanced with slight female tilt.

Behavioral trends observed in comparable rural Great Plains counties

• Community and news: Facebook Pages/Groups are the hub for local news, school sports, events, weather/road updates, and buy‑sell.
• Video first: YouTube for tutorials (home, auto, ag, outdoors) and long‑form; TikTok/Reels for quick local highlights and business promos.
• Messaging: Facebook Messenger and Snapchat dominate day‑to‑day communication; group chats for teams, clubs, and shift workers.
• Local commerce: Facebook Marketplace is the primary channel; Instagram Shops secondary; Craigslist still used for larger items.
• Engagement patterns: Peaks evenings (7–10 pm CT) and weekend mornings; spikes during weather events and school sports; best-performing content features recognizable people, youth activities, and practical local information.
• Advertising performance: Geo‑targeted Facebook/Instagram and short vertical video perform best; LinkedIn is effective mainly for hiring and B2B in healthcare/education/transportation; X is niche for media/sports audiences.

Notes

• Exact, platform-by-platform user counts are not publicly released at the county level. Figures above are grounded in Pew Research Center’s 2024 social media adoption data and prior rural/urban differentials, applied to Lincoln County’s demographic and connectivity profile (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023).