Johnson County vs Thayer County

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

Johnson County and Thayer 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 4,938 in Thayer County). Thayer County has the higher median household income ($63,095 vs $59,457 in Johnson County). Johnson County has the higher median home value ($131,500 vs $106,200 in Thayer County).

Population, income & housing

	Johnson County	Thayer County
Population	5,263	4,938
Median age	40.1 yrs	46.2 yrs
Median household income	$59,457	$63,095
Median home value	$131,500	$106,200
Median gross rent	$777	$738
Housing units	2,090	2,518
Homeownership rate	68.5%	75.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.0%	23.0%
Unemployment rate	2.0%	3.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Johnson County	Thayer County
Population	5,161 → 5,263 (+2.0%)	5,057 → 4,938 (-2.4%)
Median household income	$54,712 → $59,457 (+8.7%)	$51,821 → $63,095 (+21.8%)
Median home value	$94,400 → $131,500 (+39.3%)	$71,400 → $106,200 (+48.7%)
Median gross rent	$646 → $777 (+20.3%)	$591 → $738 (+24.9%)

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

Thayer County

Population

5,0574,938

Median household income

$51,821$63,095

Median home value

$71,400$106,200

Median gross rent

$591$738

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Johnson County	Thayer County
Under 5	4.8%	5.3%
5 to 17	14.7%	17.6%
18 to 24	9.1%	6.4%
25 to 34	12.6%	9.2%
35 to 44	14.4%	10.3%
45 to 54	13.2%	11.7%
55 to 64	12.8%	14.4%
65 to 74	10.4%	14.1%
75 and over	8.0%	11.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Johnson County	Thayer County
White (non-Hispanic)	78.1%	93.4%
Black or African American	4.7%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.3%	0.5%
Asian	1.1%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.2%
Two or more races	3.1%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	11.7%	3.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Johnson County	Thayer County
No high school diploma	11.6%	5.6%
High school graduate	42.4%	34.9%
Some college or associate's	27.0%	36.6%
Bachelor's degree	13.1%	16.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.8%	6.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Johnson County	Thayer County
Drove alone	75.3%	82.6%
Carpooled	11.4%	6.2%
Public transit	0.2%	0.0%
Walked	5.2%	3.7%
Bicycle	1.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.8%	6.4%
Other means	0.1%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Johnson County	Thayer County
1-unit, detached	88.9%	93.1%
1-unit, attached	0.8%	0.9%
2 to 4 units	2.4%	1.5%
5 to 19 units	3.1%	1.9%
20 or more units	1.6%	1.8%
Mobile home & other	3.1%	0.8%

Poverty & households

	Johnson County	Thayer County
Poverty rate	6.8%	9.0%
Average household size	2.46	2.31
Mean commute (minutes)	26	14
Median year structure built	1953	1952