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Columbus

A township of 3,313 people in Platte County, Nebraska
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Around town

The places and views that make it Columbus

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Outdoors in Columbus

Parks & trails →
Conserved land0.1%40 of 33,482 acres
Trails13 mi0.2 mi per sq mi
Parks & preserves212 conserved acres per 1,000 residents

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Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US

View of a windmill at Columbus.Alternate Title: Union Pacific Railroad west from Omahac. 1870
From Columbus’s story

View of a windmill at Columbus.Alternate Title: Union Pacific Railroad west from Omaha, c. 1870

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

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Know Columbus

The town at a glance, and the guide to how things work

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About Columbus

City in and county seat of Platte County, Nebraska, United States
1856Established
24,028Population
10.4 sq miArea
1,447 ftElevation

Columbus is the county seat of Platte County, Nebraska, situated at the confluence of the Loup and Platte rivers roughly 85 miles (137 km) west-northwest of Omaha and 75 miles (121 km) northwest of Lincoln by road, near the county's southern edge. With an estimated population of 24,464 as of 2024, it is the 10th-most populous city in Nebraska. Initially settled in May 1856 along the historic Great Platte River Road, the city was named for Columbus, Ohio; its location along the proposed transcontinental railroad made it especially attractive to early settlers. Despite the construction of a hydroelectric plant, the Great Depression hit the region especially hard. Since, its economy has pivote…

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From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Town numbers

ZIP code68601, 68602
Area code402
Living in Columbus

Housing in Columbus

$271K▲ 2.2% in a year Typical home value · Zillow

The typical Columbus home is worth about $271,000, up 2.2% in a year, close to the Nebraska typical home.

Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data CenterHousing market →

Health in Columbus

Compared with Nebraska

3worse than NE

of 32 measures CDC estimates. The other 29 are too close to call.

BetterToo close to callWorse

What stands out

Care nearby

Columbus Community HospitalColumbus · 3.9 mi · ER
East Central District Health Department/Good Neighbor Community Health CenterColumbus · 3.5 mi · sliding-scale fees
Primary careNo shortage
DentalNo shortage
Mental healthShortage · county-wide
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · ZIP code 68601 · CMS · HRSAHealth in Columbus →

How things work in Columbus

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Columbus

Nebraska · NE · Platte County
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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01