Lincoln

Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers 103.9 square miles (269.1 km) and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census (300,619 estimated in 2024). It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 72nd-most populous in the United States. The county seat of Lancaster County, Lincoln is the economic and cultural anchor of the Lincoln, Nebraska metropolitan area, home to approximately 345,000 people.

Lincoln was founded in 1856 as the village of Lancaster on the wild salt marshes and arroyos of what became Lancaster County. Renamed after President Abraham Lincoln, it became Nebraska's state capital in 1869. The Bertram G. Goodhue–designed state capitol building was completed in 1932, and is the nation's second-tallest capitol. As the city is the seat of government for the state of Nebraska, the state and the U.S. government are major employers. The University of Nebraska was founded in Lincoln in 1869. The university is Nebraska's largest, with 23,954 students enrolled, and the city's third-largest employer. Other primary employers fall into the service and manufacturing industries, including a growing high-tech sector. The region makes up a part of what is known as the Midwest Silicon Prairie.