Thurston County, Nebraska

Thurston County
County
Thurston County courthouse in Pender
Location within the U.S. state of Nebraska
Nebraska's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 42°10′N 96°33′W / 42.16°N 96.55°W / 42.16; -96.55
Country	United States
State	Nebraska
Founded	1889
Named for	John Mellen Thurston
Seat	Pender
Largest village	Pender
Area
• Total	396 sq mi (1,030 km2)
• Land	394 sq mi (1,020 km2)
• Water	2.5 sq mi (6 km2)  0.6%
Population  (2020)
• Total	6,773
• Density	17/sq mi (6.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st
Website	thurstoncountynebraska.us

Thurston County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 6,773.^[1] Its county seat is Pender.^[2]

In the Nebraska license plate system, Thurston County is represented by the prefix 55 (it had the 55th-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

The Siouan-speaking Omaha and Ho-Chunk (Ho-Chunk) have reservations in Thurston County. The two reservations combined comprise the county's entire land area.