Johnson County vs Polk County

A side-by-side comparison of Johnson County and Polk County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Johnson County has the higher population (5,263 vs 5,209 in Polk County). Polk County has the higher median household income ($71,771 vs $59,457 in Johnson County). Polk County has the higher median home value ($177,800 vs $131,500 in Johnson County).

Population, income & housing

	Johnson County	Polk County
Population	5,263	5,209
Median age	40.1 yrs	43.7 yrs
Median household income	$59,457	$71,771
Median home value	$131,500	$177,800
Median gross rent	$777	$692
Housing units	2,090	2,524
Homeownership rate	68.5%	81.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.0%	18.6%
Unemployment rate	2.0%	1.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Johnson County	Polk County
Population	5,161 → 5,263 (+2.0%)	5,225 → 5,209 (-0.3%)
Median household income	$54,712 → $59,457 (+8.7%)	$67,719 → $71,771 (+6.0%)
Median home value	$94,400 → $131,500 (+39.3%)	$107,300 → $177,800 (+65.7%)
Median gross rent	$646 → $777 (+20.3%)	$584 → $692 (+18.5%)

Johnson County

Population

5,1615,263

Median household income

$54,712$59,457

Median home value

$94,400$131,500

Median gross rent

$646$777

Polk County

Population

5,2255,209

Median household income

$67,719$71,771

Median home value

$107,300$177,800

Median gross rent

$584$692

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Johnson County	Polk County
Under 5	4.8%	5.1%
5 to 17	14.7%	17.2%
18 to 24	9.1%	7.9%
25 to 34	12.6%	9.9%
35 to 44	14.4%	10.5%
45 to 54	13.2%	11.9%
55 to 64	12.8%	14.4%
65 to 74	10.4%	13.6%
75 and over	8.0%	9.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Johnson County	Polk County
White (non-Hispanic)	78.1%	91.0%
Black or African American	4.7%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.3%	0.1%
Asian	1.1%	0.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.1%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	11.7%	5.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Johnson County	Polk County
No high school diploma	11.6%	6.7%
High school graduate	42.4%	36.1%
Some college or associate's	27.0%	38.6%
Bachelor's degree	13.1%	12.7%
Graduate or professional degree	5.8%	5.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Johnson County	Polk County
Drove alone	75.3%	76.1%
Carpooled	11.4%	9.0%
Public transit	0.2%	0.1%
Walked	5.2%	4.7%
Bicycle	1.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.8%	9.8%
Other means	0.1%	0.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Johnson County	Polk County
1-unit, detached	88.9%	88.5%
1-unit, attached	0.8%	0.6%
2 to 4 units	2.4%	2.1%
5 to 19 units	3.1%	2.6%
20 or more units	1.6%	0.4%
Mobile home & other	3.1%	5.8%

Poverty & households

	Johnson County	Polk County
Poverty rate	6.8%	6.2%
Average household size	2.46	2.49
Mean commute (minutes)	26	21
Median year structure built	1953	1963