Hayes County

Also known as Hayes County, Nebraska, Hayes County, NE

county in Nebraska, United States

Key facts

Country: United States
State: Nebraska
Founded: February 19, 1877 (created), 1884 (organized)
Named after: Rutherford B. Hayes
Seat: Hayes Center
Largest village: Palisade
Total: 713.282 sq mi (1,847.39 km )
Land: 713.065 sq mi (1,846.83 km )
Water: 0.217 sq mi (0.56 km ) 0.03%
Density: 1.20/sq mi (0.463/km )
Time zone: UTC−6 ( Central )
Summer dst: UTC−5 ( CDT )
Congressional district

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Article

Hayes County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 856, and was estimated to be 821 in 2025. The county seat is Hayes Center and the largest village is Palisade.

In the Nebraska license plate system, Hayes County was represented by the prefix "79" (as it had the 79th-largest number of vehicles registered in the state when the license plate system was established in 1922).