Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 573, settled in 1886.
Zion Presbyterian Church and Baumert & Bogner is on the National Register of Historic Places. Howells has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Census counts: 197 in 1890, a peak of 952 in 1930, 561 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1931 and 2 maps from 1955 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Howells, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Howells.
Of the losses FEMA expects in Howells, 48% come from inland flooding and 18% from hail. Since 1984, 19 flood insurance claims have been paid out in the town. Households locally have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2008.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools: the Howells-Dodge Consolidated Schools. Below: Two of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howells-Dodge Elementary School/HowellsLargest public school before high schoolGrades PK | Grades PK | 27 | – |
| Howells Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 138 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts
The top destinations are Clarkson (11%), Columbus (9%) and Leigh (8%). Only 6% of working residents stay in Howells for work; the rest commute out. Also worth knowing: since 2013, Howells has lost 50 jobs, to 123 in 2023. Howells’ typical journey to work stands at 22 minutes, above the Nebraska town median (17 minutes) but below the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes).
| Howells | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 5.9% | 34% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $81,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 9.3% | 11% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Only 4 of the 58 Nebraska towns we compare have a lower share of children under 18 than Howells. The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Howells at 573 residents, up 2.5% since 2020. Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 24% of residents (17% statewide). The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 28%, against 35% across Nebraska.
| Howells | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 51.6 years | 37.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 20% | 24% | 22% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6.2 points. Across Nebraska, 49.7% of residents are women.
| Howells | NE | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11% | 13.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.3% | 11.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.3% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.3% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.5% | 13.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.2% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.1% | 11.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.3% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 16.1% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.3% | 7.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.7% | 25% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.9% | 21.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.1% | 11% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.7% | 22.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.3% | 12.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 600, single groups can be off by several points
July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 13° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Of 32 CDC measures, Howells beats the Nebraska average on 2 and trails it on 2. For adults in the town, the share who sleep under 7 hours is 29%.
| Howells | Nebraska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 33% |
| What stands out | Howells | NE |
|---|---|---|
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 68.3% | 62.3% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.8% | 77.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16% | 12.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Only one of the 58 Nebraska towns we compare has a higher share of homes lived in by their owners than Howells. Home values are up 2.3% over the year to September 2026.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Howells; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Howells residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Nebraska.
Where Howells’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Village in Nebraska, United States
Howells is a village in Colfax County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2020 census, Howells had a population of 561.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Howells has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.