Wheeler County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of 2000, the population is 886. Its county seat is Bartlett.

In the Nebraska license plate system, Wheeler County is represented by the prefix 84 (it had the eighty-fourth-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 576 square miles (1,491 km²), of which, 575 square miles (1,490 km²) of it is land and 0 square miles (1 km²) of it (0.07%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Antelope County, Nebraska - (Northeast)
• Boone County, Nebraska - (Southeast)
• Greeley County, Nebraska - (South)
• Garfield County, Nebraska - (West)
• Holt County, Nebraska - (North)

History

Wheeler County was formed in 1877. It was named after Major Daniel H. Wheeler.

Demographics

Wheeler County Population by decade

1880 - 644 1890 - 1,683 1900 - 1,362 1910 - 2,292 1920 - 2,531 1930 - 2,335 1940 - 2,170 1950 - 1,526 1960 - 1,297 1970 - 1,051 1980 - 1,060 1990 - 948 2000 - 886

As of the census of 2000, there were 886 people, 352 households, and 243 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile (1/km²). There were 561 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile (0/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 99.10% White, 0.23% Native American, 0.56% from other races, and 0.11% from two or more races. 0.56% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 47.4% were of German, 9.4% Irish, 7.8% English, 7.2% Swedish and 7.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 352 households out of which 31.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.80% were married couples living together, 3.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.70% were non-families. 29.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the county the population was spread out with 29.10% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 21.90% from 25 to 44, 25.70% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,771, and the median income for a family was $33,750. Males had a median income of $21,563 versus $17,083 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,355. About 15.40% of families and 20.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.80% of those under age 18 and 16.70% of those age 65 or over.

Villages

• Bartlett
• Ericson

References