County profile
Howard County, NE
United States · GDP 2024
#2726 of 3,127 US counties by GDPbottom-decile growthmore diversified than 33% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$288.3M
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
-7.9%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
1,076
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
176
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$41.5k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
6,538
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
2.7%
Median HH income
$76.8k±$7.2k
Bachelor's degree+
26.0%±3.6%
Poverty rate
4.8%±1.8%
Business applications
81 · 2025
Retail establishments
25
38.2/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
No public companies loaded for this state yet — universe expands with the full ingest.
HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Health care38%
Retail trade22%
Wholesale trade12%
Finance & insurance10%
Food & accommodation10%
Transportation7%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
6,538
residents · 2025 · +0.8% since 2020
Income per capita $60.1k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+69
International migration+16
Natural change−35
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$231.0M2019
$233.5M2020
$276.8M2021
$289.8M2022
$312.9M2023
$288.3M2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$209.1k±$18.8k
Median gross rent
$777/mo±$115/mo
Vacancy rate
13.5%±3.5%
Affordability
5.0× wages
Residential permits
$4.8M
15 units · 2.3/1k pop
FEMA risk score
24.2
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.0k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Hail 95Drought 87Strong wind 71
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
1602016
1672017
1772018
1882019
1972020
2032021
2462022
2572023
3012024
3142025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 7% since 2021142021
242022
142023
172024
152025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
45.1 km
I-80
Nearest freight rail
4.9 km
NCRC
Nearest port
205.2 km
CONSOLIDATED BLENDERS BLAIR TERMINAL DOCK
Nearest commercial airport
33.0 km
CENTRAL NEBRASKA RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$41.5k
avg. annual pay · +17% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Howard?
Howard's economy produced $288.3M in 2024, contracting 7.9% year over year — among the slowest-growing US counties. Its largest employment sector is health care.
GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.