Welcome to Benkelman ...

The city of Benkelman is located in Dundy County<1> and is the County Seat for Dundy County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Benkelman, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1882.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Benkelman has a population of 786 people<2> (see below for details).

Benkelman is 3,010 feet [917 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the elevation of Benkelman is about ½ mile above sea level.

Time Zone: Benkelman lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel south from Benkelman (for example, toward Bird City (KS)), you will leave Mountain Time and cross into the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT).

Area Code for Benkelman: 308

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Benkelman had an population of 786 people. This is a decrease of 17.52% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 21.87% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Benkelman had a population of 953 people (or 47.46% of the total population of Dundy County). This makes Benkelman the county's most populous community.

The population of Benkelman represents 0.05% of the population of Nebraska (which has 1,826,341 people), making it the state's 118th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 953 people, the population of Benkelman decreased 5.27% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 1,006 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Benkelman.

Websites for Benkelman ...

Official Website: www.benkelman.org/

Communities near Benkelman ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Benkelman.

• Stratton
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratton
  • Stratton is located in Hitchcock County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 325 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stratton <4>
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Stratton
  • From Benkelman to Stratton
• Max
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Max
  • Max is located in Dundy County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Max <4>
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Max
  • From Benkelman to Max
• Parks
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parks
  • Parks is located in Dundy County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parks <4>
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Parks
  • From Benkelman to Parks
• Ough
  (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ough
  • Ough is located in Dundy County
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Ough
  • From Benkelman to Ough
• Bird City
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird City
  • Bird City is located in Cheyenne County (KS)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 423 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bird City <4>
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Bird City
  • From Benkelman to Bird City
• McDonald
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDonald have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
  • McDonald is located in Rawlins County (KS)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
• Wheeler
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
  • Wheeler is located in Cheyenne County (KS)
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Wheeler
  • From Benkelman to Wheeler
• Haigler
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haigler
  • Haigler is located in Dundy County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haigler <4>
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Haigler
  • From Benkelman to Haigler
• Beardsley
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardsley
  • Beardsley is located in Rawlins County (KS)
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Beardsley
  • From Benkelman to Beardsley
• Saint Francis
  (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Francis
  • Saint Francis is located in Cheyenne County (KS)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,267 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Francis <4>
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Saint Francis
  • From Benkelman to Saint Francis

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Benkelman. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Benkelman.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Benkelman. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Benkelman.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Benkelman. Our list includes 8 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Benkelman.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Benkelman ...

Looking for more information about Benkelman? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Benkelman, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Benkelman.

Adding Benkelman to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Benkelman in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Benkelman was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

X2X - From that list, the Benkelman post office opened in 1882.

We also found Benkelman on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Nebraska (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Benkelman.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Benkelman: www.benkelman.org/

The official website for State of Nebraska: https://www.nebraska.gov/