Red Willow County vs Wayne County

A side-by-side comparison of Red Willow County and Wayne County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Red Willow County has the higher population (10,611 vs 9,786 in Wayne County). Wayne County has the higher median household income ($67,687 vs $60,000 in Red Willow County). Wayne County has the higher median home value ($203,700 vs $143,500 in Red Willow County).

Population, income & housing

	Red Willow County	Wayne County
Population	10,611	9,786
Median age	41.2 yrs	31.6 yrs
Median household income	$60,000	$67,687
Median home value	$143,500	$203,700
Median gross rent	$778	$732
Housing units	5,164	3,973
Homeownership rate	73.2%	68.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.0%	29.4%
Unemployment rate	1.5%	3.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Red Willow County	Wayne County
Population	10,768 → 10,611 (-1.5%)	9,332 → 9,786 (+4.9%)
Median household income	$48,808 → $60,000 (+22.9%)	$56,456 → $67,687 (+19.9%)
Median home value	$109,000 → $143,500 (+31.7%)	$137,200 → $203,700 (+48.5%)
Median gross rent	$623 → $778 (+24.9%)	$655 → $732 (+11.8%)

Red Willow County

Population

10,76810,611

Median household income

$48,808$60,000

Median home value

$109,000$143,500

Median gross rent

$623$778

Wayne County

Population

9,3329,786

Median household income

$56,456$67,687

Median home value

$137,200$203,700

Median gross rent

$655$732

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Red Willow County	Wayne County
Under 5	6.2%	4.9%
5 to 17	15.9%	15.3%
18 to 24	9.9%	24.0%
25 to 34	10.5%	9.4%
35 to 44	11.2%	10.8%
45 to 54	10.7%	8.4%
55 to 64	14.5%	11.0%
65 to 74	11.7%	8.8%
75 and over	9.3%	7.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Red Willow County	Wayne County
White (non-Hispanic)	90.1%	85.6%
Black or African American	0.8%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.2%
Asian	0.0%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	2.5%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	6.2%	10.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Red Willow County	Wayne County
No high school diploma	4.7%	4.9%
High school graduate	30.7%	32.7%
Some college or associate's	38.6%	33.1%
Bachelor's degree	18.6%	18.6%
Graduate or professional degree	7.4%	10.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Red Willow County	Wayne County
Drove alone	87.5%	72.6%
Carpooled	4.2%	5.4%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	2.0%	9.2%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.6%	12.6%
Other means	0.7%	0.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Red Willow County	Wayne County
1-unit, detached	80.5%	76.8%
1-unit, attached	0.7%	4.3%
2 to 4 units	4.8%	5.9%
5 to 19 units	5.6%	9.7%
20 or more units	3.2%	1.1%
Mobile home & other	5.2%	2.2%

Poverty & households

	Red Willow County	Wayne County
Poverty rate	14.1%	13.2%
Average household size	2.32	2.24
Mean commute (minutes)	12	14
Median year structure built	1959	1967