Kearney

Population & Demographics

Kearney, NE

Kearney is home to 34,246 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 16,317 resident workers commute each day.

NebraskaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
34,246
people
Population

34,246 residents

Median age 32.8 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Kearney population & demographics

Who lives in Kearney — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
34,246
Median age
32.8yrs
Median household income
$69,724
Median home value
$244,600
Median gross rent
$949/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
36.5%
Poverty rate
12.4%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Kearney

How Kearney breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White81.5%
Hispanic or Latino11.4%
Two or more races2.6%
Asian2.4%
Black1.1%
Some other race0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.2%

Race across Kearney

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Kearney.

Kearney at a glance
Employed Residents
16,317
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
41.1mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
61.0%
Share working within the area
Work from home
4.5%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Grand Island
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Kearney proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Kearney commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

92
Commute Score

92 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Kearney

16,317 commutes, one dot at a time

Kearney

Where 16,317 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Kearney, by worker count.

1Kearney0.0 mi9,960
2Grand Island41.1 mi768
3Lincoln126.7 mi610
4Omaha163.7 mi464
5Hastings37.1 mi269
6Holdrege23.6 mi155
7Lexington35.1 mi134
8Columbus103.3 mi100

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Kearney.

1Kearney0.0 mi9,960
2Grand Island41.1 mi773
3Lincoln126.7 mi474
4Hastings37.1 mi406
5Minden15.6 mi355
6Omaha163.7 mi348
7North Platte93.3 mi328
8Gibbon12.9 mi297

Top industries

The sectors that employ Kearney’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance20.6%
AFAccommodation and Food Services12.6%
RTRetail Trade12.4%
EDEducational Services10.3%
MFManufacturing6.8%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services4.8%
OSOther Services (except Public Administration)4.3%
PTProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services4.3%
WSWholesale Trade4.2%
Connectivity

Internet options for Kearney

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

11 providers · 1 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps95%
5 Gbps
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Kearney

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).