The Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area is a metropolitan area comprised of the cities of Omaha, Nebraska, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and surrounding areas. The metropolitan area, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, consists of eight counties – five in Nebraska and three in Iowa. The area is locally referred to as “The Metro Area”, “Metro”, or simply “Omaha”. Three of the counties have large urban areas; the other five counties consist primarily of rural communities, most of which have populations of 1,000 or less. The Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area has a population of 813,170 (2005 estimate).

Historical definitions and populations

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1950 - 366,395
1960 - 457,873
1970 - 540,142
1980 - 585,122¹
1990 - 618,262²
2000 - 767,041³
2005 - 813,170 (est.)

Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area Population by decade

Standards for metropolitan areas were created in 1949; the first census which had metropolitan area data was the 1950 census. At that time, the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area was comprised of three counties: Douglas and Sarpy in Nebraska, and Pottawattamie in Iowa. No additional counties were added to the metropolitan area until 1983, when Washington County, Nebraska was added. Cass County, Nebraska was added in 1993; Saunders County in Nebraska and Harrison and Mills counties in Iowa became part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area in 2003.

The 2003 revision to metropolitan area definitions was accompanied by the creation of micropolitan areas and Combined Statistical Areas. Fremont, in Dodge County, Nebraska, was designated a micropolitan area. The Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont Combined Statistical Area has a population of 849,248 (2005 estimate).

Counties in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area

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Nebraska

• Cass County, Nebraska
• Douglas County, Nebraska
• Sarpy County, Nebraska
• Saunders County, Nebraska
• Washington County, Nebraska

Iowa

• Harrison County, Iowa
• Mills County, Iowa
• Pottawattamie County, Iowa

Cities in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area

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Primary cities

• Omaha – 409,416 inhabitants (2004 estimate)
• Council Bluffs – 59,347 inhabitants (2004 estimate)

Cities of 10,000 people or more

• Bellevue
• La Vista
• Papillion

Cities of 5,000 to 10,000 people

• Blair
• Elkhorn
• Glenwood
• Plattsmouth
• Ralston

Cities of 1,000 to 5,000 people

Arlington Ashland Avoca (Iowa) Carter Lake Dunlap Eagle Gretna Logan Louisville

Malvern Missouri Valley Oakland Springfield Valley Wahoo Weeping Water Woodbine Yutan

Cities and villages with fewer than 1,000 people

Alvo Avoca (Nebraska) Bennington Boys Town Carson Cedar Bluffs Cedar Creek Ceresco Colon

Crescent Elmwood Emerson Fort Calhoun Greenwood Hancock Hastings Henderson Herman

Ithaca Kennard Leshara Little Sioux Macedonia Magnolia Malmo Manley McClelland

Mead Memphis Minden Modale Mondamin Morse Bluff Murdock Murray Nehawka

Neola Pacific Junction Persia Pisgah Prague Shelby Silver City South Bend Treynor

Underwood Union Valparaiso Walnut Washington Waterloo Weston

Census-designated places

• Chalco
• Offutt AFB

Former cities and villages annexed by Omaha

• Benson
• Dundee
• Elkhorn *Contested as of 2006.
• Florence
• Millard
• South Omaha

Notes

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1. 1983 metropolitan area definition applied to 1980 census data.
2. 1993 metropolitan area definition applied to 1990 census data.
3. 2003 metropolitan area definition applied to 2000 census data.

External link

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• Population for Iowa metropolitan areas and components, 1950 – 2000

Omaha, Nebraska | Metropolitan areas of the United States