Harrison Border
Where People Really Live
I have heard so many local people say they live in “Omaha” but when I find out their address, it just is not so. I recently heard a man claim Gretna was part of Omaha and ended up shaking my head.
What causes the problem is how government agencies define their borders. The US Census refers to the “Omaha Metropolitan Area”. The US Postal Service is no help either. Yeah, your ZIP code may say Omaha, but this is because you are in the postal system’s Omaha category and your mail processed by an Omaha center, but you don’t live in Omaha!
If you discovered these discrepancies, you most likely discovered Harrison Street, which is on the borders of Douglas County and Sarpy County. This is where law enforcement will catch you speeding or catch you and cite you for a DUI as you crossed the county line. (Harrison is on the south side of Douglas, and north side of Sarpy).
This also impacts politics. When it comes to voter registration and signing a petition, you have to be certain you are in the right county to do so.
But back to Omaha, here are the real borders:
Compare it to the Douglas County map further above and you can see, Omaha has plenty of space to grow.
Carter Lake and Council Bluffs are part of the Omaha Metropolitan Area, but they are in Pottawatomie County, Iowa, as shown below:
So when all these news outlets claimed the Omaha Metropolitan Area exceeds one million people (https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/13/immigrants-help-push-omaha-metro-past-1m-population-mark-as-more-nebraska-counties-grow/), they really are not talking about Omaha. But the actual City of Omaha has about 489,000 people (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/omahacitynebraska/PST045224).
AS you know I live in Washington county, but I have a Omaha address. Like you say, it all depends on what station your mail comes out of. I have neighbors that I could throw a rock and hit their property and they are Blair, not far from that they are in Bennington. Some areas like mine are a hot mess as far as the city that claims you. My fire is Ft Calhoun, but Bennington is far closer. I used to vote in Kennard. Now I am in District 1. Same as Scottsbluff meanwhile I can see Omaha out my front window --- I'd rather see Scottsbluff....................
You are 100% correct and what you’re proving here is that most people in the area are not very bright… they are just misinformed people and that’s how people are in this part of the country.