NE · Douglas County · 486,051 (2020) · 39th-largest US city · Central time
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha stands on the west bank of the Missouri River in eastern Nebraska, facing Council Bluffs, Iowa. It is the largest city in Nebraska and the thirty-ninth in the United States.
- State
- Nebraska
- County
- Douglas County
- Population (2020)
- 486,051
- Rank
- 39th in the US
- Coordinates
- 41.26°N, 95.93°W
- Time zone
- Central
- Metro area
- about 970,000
- State capital
- No – Lincoln
Where Omaha is
Omaha is at 41.26°N, 95.93°W in Douglas County, of which it is the county seat, on the eastern edge of Nebraska. The city covers about 145 square miles of loess hills and river terraces at roughly 1,090 feet above sea level. The Missouri River is the eastern city limit and the state line with Iowa; Council Bluffs is directly across. The Platte River joins the Missouri just south of the metro area, and the city grew as the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific, the first transcontinental railroad, in the 1860s. Lincoln, the state capital, is 55 miles southwest; Kansas City 185 miles south and Minneapolis 380 miles northeast.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 486,051 residents, ranking Omaha 39th in the US and first in Nebraska, well ahead of Lincoln (292,000). The city grew about 19 percent between 2010 and 2020, partly by annexation. The Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area covers eight counties in Nebraska and Iowa and has about 970,000 people, roughly half the population of Nebraska; the Omaha and Lincoln metros together hold more than two-thirds of the state.
Geography
- Missouri River — the city's eastern boundary, channelised and leveed since the 1940s; the Lewis and Clark expedition held its first council with Native nations just north of here in 1804. See the Missouri River map.
- Loess Hills — the wind-blown silt bluffs on both sides of the river, giving the city its hilly east side.
- Platte River — the wide, shallow river that crosses Nebraska from west to east joins the Missouri at Plattsmouth, 15 miles south.
- Elkhorn River and Papillion Creek — drain the west and south of the city; the Papio watershed has a chain of flood-control lakes.
Nearest large cities
Lincoln is under an hour away; Des Moines, not on this list, is two hours east on Interstate 80. Distances are approximate road miles from downtown.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | MO | 185 | S |
| Minneapolis | MN | 380 | NE |
| Chicago | IL | 470 | E |
| Denver | CO | 540 | W |
| Oklahoma City | OK | 465 | S |
Is Omaha the state capital?
No — but it was. Omaha was the capital of Nebraska Territory from 1854 until statehood in 1867, when the legislature moved the capital south of the Platte to the new town of Lincoln, 55 miles away, to settle a long quarrel between the two halves of the territory. Omaha is the seat of Douglas County and the largest city in the state. Nebraska is split between Central and Mountain time, but Omaha and the eastern two-thirds of the state are on Central.
Related maps
- Nebraska map — the state with its 93 counties.
- Lincoln — the state capital, 55 miles southwest.
- US cities map.
- Missouri River and Great Plains maps.
- Nearby: Kansas City, Iowa, Des Moines.
- Great Plains region · Central Time Zone (western Nebraska is on Mountain).