Two-Thirds of Nebraska Lives Near Lincoln: The 100-Mile Reach, Mapped

By SimpleMapLab·Published 13 May 2026·Rank #13 of 50 states·↑ All 50 states

81.5% of Nebraska’s population — roughly 1.61 M of the state’s 1.98 M residents — lives within 100 miles of Lincoln. Nebraska ranks #13 of 50 states for capital-to-population centrality.

A 100-mile geodesic radius around the Lincoln, NE state capitol overlaid on Nebraska. 81.5% of Nebraska's population lives inside the dashed ring.

81.5%

of Nebraska’s population within 100 miles of Lincoln

1.61 M

residents inside the radius (of 1.98 M statewide)

36 mi

from Lincoln to Nebraska’s population centroid

#13

of 50 states ranked by capital-to-population centrality

Open this radius in the map → /tools/map-radius-tool · Lincoln, NE · 100 mi
The link opens the SimpleMapLab Map Radius Tool with the 100-mile circle already drawn around the Lincoln capitol. Change the radius to 50, 250, or any value to compare different framings.

Why this happened

Nebraska's capital is centrally located but not perfectly placed. Lincoln's 100-mile circle captures roughly two-thirds to four-fifths of the state's residents — including Omaha (the largest city inside, ~567K). The notable exception: Kearney, sitting 129 miles from the capital. The capital itself sits 36 miles from Nebraska's population centroid — a moderate but not extreme offset.

The biggest cities inside the 100-mile radius

The top 5 most-populous places (by aggregated ZIP code population) sitting inside the 100-mile circle around Lincoln. Cities are listed by total population captured by ZIP centroids in the dataset.

#	City	Population in radius
1	Omaha	566,741
2	Lincoln	303,803
3	Bellevue	68,218
4	Grand Island	56,358
5	Papillion	49,814

The largest city outside the radius

Nebraska’s most-populous city outside the 100-mile circle is Kearney, sitting 129 miles from Lincoln. The aggregated population of Kearney’s ZIP codes alone — 40,275 residents — illustrates the gap between Nebraska’s political seat and its population centre.

How Nebraska compares

The states ranked closest to Nebraska on this metric. Click any to compare the radius breakdown directly.

#12 Colorado

Denver · 86.2% pop. captured

#14 Minnesota

Saint Paul · 80.3% pop. captured

#11 Michigan

Lansing · 88.0% pop. captured

#15 Virginia

Richmond · 78.8% pop. captured

#10 Utah

Salt Lake City · 88.5% pop. captured

Draw it yourself

Open the 100-mile circle around Lincoln →

The Map Radius Tool lets you change the radius (try 50 mi for an urban-suburban question or 250 mi for “a day’s drive”), drag the centre to compare Lincoln’s reach with that of Omaha, or add a second circle for a side-by-side comparison.

Methodology (brief)

We took the lat/lng of the Nebraska state capitol building (40.8136°, -96.7026°) and drew a 100-mile geodesic radius. For every ZIP code in Nebraska, we tested whether the ZIP centroid falls inside; if so, its population counts. We then divide by Nebraska’s total population to produce the percentage. The full methodology for all 50 states is on the hub page.

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). 100 Miles Around Lincoln: How Much of Nebraska Is Inside? Part of the State Capital Radius study. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/studies/state-capital-radius/nebraska. Licensed under CC-BY 4.0.