Dawes County vs Merrick County

A side-by-side comparison of Dawes County and Merrick County: population, income, housing, and more.

Dawes County and Merrick County are counties in Nebraska. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Dawes County has the higher population (8,212 vs 7,696 in Merrick County). Merrick County has the higher median household income ($62,849 vs $54,381 in Dawes County). Merrick County has the higher median home value ($168,000 vs $146,500 in Dawes County).

Population, income & housing

	Dawes County	Merrick County
Population	8,212	7,696
Median age	35.2 yrs	42.8 yrs
Median household income	$54,381	$62,849
Median home value	$146,500	$168,000
Median gross rent	$1,014	$772
Housing units	4,013	3,584
Homeownership rate	65.7%	80.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.2%	17.6%
Unemployment rate	1.5%	0.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Dawes County	Merrick County
Population	8,810 → 8,212 (-6.8%)	7,798 → 7,696 (-1.3%)
Median household income	$50,750 → $54,381 (+7.2%)	$55,649 → $62,849 (+12.9%)
Median home value	$125,200 → $146,500 (+17.0%)	$115,400 → $168,000 (+45.6%)
Median gross rent	$713 → $1,014 (+42.2%)	$689 → $772 (+12.0%)

Dawes County

Population

8,8108,212

Median household income

$50,750$54,381

Median home value

$125,200$146,500

Median gross rent

$713$1,014

Merrick County

Population

7,7987,696

Median household income

$55,649$62,849

Median home value

$115,400$168,000

Median gross rent

$689$772

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Dawes County	Merrick County
Under 5	5.4%	5.7%
5 to 17	12.6%	17.1%
18 to 24	20.0%	6.9%
25 to 34	11.8%	11.6%
35 to 44	10.3%	11.3%
45 to 54	9.3%	11.7%
55 to 64	11.2%	14.4%
65 to 74	10.4%	12.1%
75 and over	9.0%	9.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Dawes County	Merrick County
White (non-Hispanic)	86.4%	91.1%
Black or African American	1.4%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.8%	0.0%
Asian	1.0%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.7%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	4.8%	5.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Dawes County	Merrick County
No high school diploma	4.3%	7.6%
High school graduate	26.5%	36.6%
Some college or associate's	34.0%	38.2%
Bachelor's degree	18.3%	11.1%
Graduate or professional degree	16.9%	6.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Dawes County	Merrick County
Drove alone	68.9%	84.3%
Carpooled	12.9%	7.1%
Public transit	0.0%	0.1%
Walked	8.1%	3.3%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.9%	4.7%
Other means	1.9%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Dawes County	Merrick County
1-unit, detached	75.0%	87.8%
1-unit, attached	1.4%	3.2%
2 to 4 units	9.6%	2.2%
5 to 19 units	0.8%	3.1%
20 or more units	6.8%	0.4%
Mobile home & other	6.4%	3.3%

Poverty & households

	Dawes County	Merrick County
Poverty rate	12.6%	8.7%
Average household size	2.18	2.35
Mean commute (minutes)	14	21
Median year structure built	1956	1968