Cherry County, Nebraska

Cherry County, Nebraska
County
The Cherry County Courthouse in Valentine
Flag
Location within the U.S. state of Nebraska
Coordinates: 42.571323°N 101.047653°W / 42.571323; -101.047653
Country	United States
State	Nebraska
Founded	February 23, 1883
Named for	Samuel A. Cherry
Seat	Valentine
Largest city	Valentine
Area
• Total	6,009.595 sq mi (15,564.78 km2)
• Land	5,960.099 sq mi (15,436.59 km2)
• Water	49.496 sq mi (128.19 km2)  0.82%
Population  (2020)
• Total	5,455
• Estimate  (2025)	5,561
• Density	0.9153/sq mi (0.3534/km2)
Time zones
Eastern part of county	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Western part of county	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Area code	308, 402, and 531
Congressional district	3rd
Website	cherrycountyne.gov
• Nebraska county number 16 • Nebraska license plate prefix 66

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Cherry County is the largest county in the U.S. state of Nebraska, covering approximately 8% of the state's total area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,455, and was estimated to be 5,561 in 2025. The county seat and the largest city is Valentine.

In the Nebraska license plate system, Cherry County was represented by the prefix "66" (as it had the 66th-largest number of vehicles registered in the state when the license plate system was established in 1922).