Lincoln, Nebraska

Lincoln
State capital
Downtown Lincoln skyline Nebraska State Capitol University of Nebraska State Museum Memorial Stadium Haymarket District
Flag Seal
Nickname:  Star City[1]
Interactive map of Lincoln
Lincoln Location within Nebraska Show map of Nebraska Lincoln Location within the United States Show map of the United States Lincoln Lincoln (North America) Show map of North America
Coordinates: 40°48′33″N 96°40′41″W / 40.80917°N 96.67806°W / 40.80917; -96.67806
Country	United States
State	Nebraska
County	Lancaster
Founded	1856 (Lancaster)
Renamed	July 29, 1869 (Lincoln)
Incorporated	April 1, 1869
Named for	Abraham Lincoln
Government
• Type	Strong mayor–council
• Mayor	Leirion Gaylor Baird (D)
• City council	Members Tom Beckius James Michael Bowers Justin P. Carlson Tom Duden Bennie Shobe Sändra Washington Brodey Weber
• U.S. Congress	Mike Flood (R)
Area [2]
• State capital	100.45 sq mi (260.16 km2)
• Land	99.09 sq mi (256.63 km2)
• Water	1.36 sq mi (3.52 km2)  1.4%
• Urban	94.17 sq mi (243.9 km2)
• Metro	1,422.269 sq mi (3,683.660 km2)
• CSA	2,282.229 sq mi (5,910.95 km2)
Elevation [3]	1,201 ft (366 m)
Population  (2020)
• State capital	291,082
• Estimate  (2023)[4]	294,757
• Density	2,937.67/sq mi (1,134.24/km2)
• Urban [β]	291,217 (US: 139th)
• Urban density	3,092.3/sq mi (1,193.9/km2)
• Metro	342,117 (US: 152nd)
• Metro density	240.5/sq mi (92.9/km2)
• CSA	363,733 (US: 104th)
• CSA density	159.4/sq mi (61.5/km2)
Demonym	Lincolnite
GDP [5]
• Metro	$25.459 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP code(s)	68501-68510, 68512, 68514, 68516-68517, 68520-68524, 68526-68529, 68531, 68542, 68544, 68583, 68588
Area codes	402, 531
FIPS code	31-28000
GNIS feature ID	837279[3]
Website	lincoln.ne.gov
α. ^ 1 2 Area, city density, metro population/density and CSA population/density as of the 2021 estimate.[6][7] β. ^ Urban population/density as of the 2020 Census.[8]

Lincoln is the capital of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers 100.4 square miles (260.035 km²) and had an estimated population of 294,757 in 2023. It is the state's second-most populous city and the 71st-largest in the United States. Lincoln is the economic and cultural anchor of the Lincoln Metropolitan and Lincoln-Beatrice Combined Statistical Areas, home to 361,921 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 26,079 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.

Designated as a "refugee-friendly" city by the U.S. Department of State in the 1970s, the city was the 12th-largest resettlement site per capita in the country by 2000. Refugee Vietnamese, Karen (Burmese ethnic minority), Sudanese and Yazidi (Iraqi ethnic minority) people, as well as refugees from Iraq, the Middle East and Afghanistan, have resettled in the city. During the 2018–19 school year, Lincoln Public Schools provided support for about 3,000 students from 150 countries, who spoke 125 different languages.