Saunders County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The population was 19,830 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Wahoo. It is one of five Nebraska counties in the eight-county Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In the Nebraska license plate system, Saunders County is represented by the prefix 6 (the county had the sixth-largest number of vehicles registered in the state when the license plate system was established in 1922).
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 759 square miles (1,965 km2), of which, 754 square miles (1,953 km2) of it is land and 5 square miles (13 km2) of it (0.65%) is water.
Adjacent counties
Saunders County was formed in 1856. It was named after Alvin Saunders, a governor of the earlier territory.
As of the census of 2000, there were 19,830 people, 7,498 households, and 5,443 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile (10/km2). There were 8,266 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile (4/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 98.49% White, 0.11% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.35% from other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. 1.03% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
| Saunders County Population by decade |
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1870 - 4,547 |
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There were 7,498 households out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.60% were married couples living together, 6.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.40% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the county the population was spread out with 27.90% under the age of 18, 6.30% from 18 to 24, 27.60% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.10 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,173, and the median income for a family was $49,443. Males had a median income of $33,309 versus $22,922 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,392. About 5.30% of families and 6.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.30% of those under age 18 and 7.00% of those age 65 or over.
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