FIPS code 31159 is Seward County, Nebraska. With a population of 17,644 (2022 ACS estimate), it ranks #18 in Nebraska and #1995 nationally. Seward County is part of the Lincoln, NE. The state FIPS code for Nebraska is 31. This code is used in Census Bureau, BLS, EPA, HUD, and USDA federal datasets to identify this county.
County FIPS
31159
Population
17,644
2022 ACS · #1995 nationally
Density
30.9/mi²
people per sq mile
Land Area
571
sq miles
Urban/Rural
Metro — 250K–1M population
RUCC 2
How This FIPS Code Works
The 5-digit FIPS code 31159 is formed by combining the 2-digit state identifier 31 (Nebraska) with the 3-digit county identifier 159. Together they uniquely identify Seward County in every US federal dataset. No two counties share the same 5-digit FIPS code.
Census ACS Data for FIPS 31159
From the 2022 ACS 5-year estimates — the same values you'd retrieve by querying the Census API with county FIPS 31159.
Median Household Income
$79,677
ACS B19013_001E
Poverty Rate
6.8%
ACS B17001 (below poverty level)
Median Age
37.5
ACS B01002_001E
Metropolitan Area
Adjacent Counties (6)
Counties that share a border with Seward County. Useful for regional analysis — these are the geographies you'd typically include when studying labor markets, commuting zones, or environmental spillovers around FIPS 31159.
Federal Datasets Using Code 31159
FIPS code 31159 appears as the county identifier in the following federal datasets. Analysts joining data across these sources use this code as the common geographic key.
Using FIPS Code 31159 in Code
Common patterns for querying federal datasets by this county's FIPS code. The leading zeros are significant — always treat FIPS codes as strings, not integers.
import requests
url = "https://api.census.gov/data/2022/acs/acs5"
params = {
"get": "NAME,B19013_001E,B01003_001E",
"for": "county:159",
"in": "state:31",
"key": "YOUR_CENSUS_API_KEY",
}
r = requests.get(url, params=params)
data = r.json() # [[header...], [Seward County, Nebraska, income, pop, ...]-- 5-digit combined FIPS (state + county)
SELECT * FROM your_table WHERE county_fips = '31159';
-- Some datasets store state and county separately
SELECT * FROM your_table
WHERE state_fips = '31'
AND county_fips = '159';
-- ⚠ Never cast to integer — leading zeros are lost:
-- county_fips = 31159 is WRONG for this countylibrary(tidycensus)
get_acs(
geography = "county",
variables = c(income = "B19013_001E", pop = "B01003_001E"),
state = "31",
county = "159",
year = 2022
)ZIP Codes in Seward County
ZIP codes do not align perfectly with county boundaries — a single ZIP code can span multiple counties, and a county can contain parts of many ZIP codes. The ratios below (from the Census 2020 ZCTA relationship file) show the land area share of each ZCTA that falls within Seward County. Why FIPS ≠ ZIP →
| ZIP Code | % in county |
|---|---|
| 68360 | 100.0% |
| 68439 | 100.0% |
| 68364 | 100.0% |
| 68434 | 100.0% |
| 68330 | 100.0% |
| 68456 | 100.0% |
| 68405 | 99.0% |
| 68313 | 98.7% |
| 68423 | 96.3% |
| 68314 | 94.8% |
| 68367 | 30.7% |
| 68359 | 14.1% |
| 68669 | 10.0% |
| 68339 | 8.9% |
| 68065 | 6.8% |
| 68343 | 5.1% |
| 68428 | 4.4% |
| 68460 | 3.2% |
| 68528 | 1.0% |