Cities In Nebraska With The Most Historic KKK Members

The cities in Nebraska with the most historic KKK members are Ulysses and Litchfield for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

We analyzed research using Saturday Night Science from Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped Klaverns by city from 1915-1940. This report analyzes the locations of historic KKK organizations to see where they were the most prevalent in Nebraska.

The city in Nebraska with the most number of Klaverns was Ulysses with 1 Klaverns. The city with the most number of Klaverns per capita was Ulysses with 0.0047 Klaverns. There were historically 18 Klaverns in Nebraska, across 18 places in Nebraska with at least 1 Klavern during the period of reference.

Hate groups can be hard to measure because, typically, there’s no record of where they exist. But there is data on where there were distinct Klaverns of the Ku Klux Klan in each state. These cities have historically been the most racist in Nebraska based on the number of KKK Klaverns.

This report does not speak to the current people who live there or the current state of the KKK in the same towns or areas.

1

No. 1 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Ulysses, NE

211 people
1 Klaverns · #1 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Butler County, Nebraska
2

No. 2 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Litchfield, NE

288 people
1 Klaverns · #2 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Sherman County, Nebraska
3

No. 3 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Edgar, NE

482 people
1 Klaverns · #3 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Clay County, Nebraska
4

No. 4 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Hay Springs, NE

555 people
1 Klaverns · #4 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Sheridan County, Nebraska
5

No. 5 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Trenton, NE

610 people
1 Klaverns · #5 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Hitchcock County, Nebraska
6

No. 6 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Benkelman, NE

974 people
1 Klaverns · #6 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Dundy County, Nebraska
7

No. 7 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Wood River, NE

1,429 people
1 Klaverns · #7 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Hall County, Nebraska
8

No. 8 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Central City, NE

2,897 peopleSnackAbility 6/10
6/10
Central City, NE
Source: Public domain
1 Klaverns · #8 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Merrick County, Nebraska
9

No. 9 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Minden, NE

3,103 peopleSnackAbility 5/10
5/10
Minden, NE
Source: Public domain
1 Klaverns · #9 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Kearney County, Nebraska
10

No. 10 most historically racist place in Nebraska

Fairbury, NE

3,902 peopleSnackAbility 5/10
5/10
Fairbury, NE
Source: Public domain
1 Klaverns · #10 most historically racist in Nebraska
Located in Jefferson County, Nebraska

The receipts

Compare the top ten

Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Nebraska’s statewide median.

City Population vs NE
1 Ulysses 211
2 Litchfield 288
3 Edgar 482
4 Hay Springs 555
5 Trenton 610
6 Benkelman 974
7 Wood River 1,429
8 Central City 2,897
9 Minden 3,103
10 Fairbury 3,902
City Klaverns vs NE
1 Ulysses 1
2 Litchfield 1
3 Edgar 1
4 Hay Springs 1
5 Trenton 1
6 Benkelman 1
7 Wood River 1
8 Central City 1
9 Minden 1
10 Fairbury 1
City Klaverns /100k vs NE
1 Ulysses 474
2 Litchfield 347
3 Edgar 207
4 Hay Springs 180
5 Trenton 164
6 Benkelman 103
7 Wood River 70
8 Central City 35
9 Minden 32
10 Fairbury 26

On the map

Where Nebraska’s historic Klaverns were

Saturday Night Science

Methodology: How We Measured The Most Historically Racist Places In The Cornhusker State

While there are surveys and public polls on what places might be the most racist, we didn’t want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from where KKK organizations have existed.

Specifically, we analyzed research out of Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped the Klans in each area and gave a history of their recruitment from 1915-1940.

  • Number of historic KKK Klaverns (1915-1940) per current resident

Using Saturday Night Science, we analyzed the locations of historic KKK organizations per capita using current population data.

The full plate

Cities With Historically High KKK Membership In Nebraska

Click any column to sort. Search by city name.

RankCityPopulationKlavernsKlaverns /100k
1Ulysses2111474
2Litchfield2881347
3Edgar4821207
4Hay Springs5551180
5Trenton6101164
6Benkelman9741103
7Wood River1,429170
8Central City2,897135
9Minden3,103132
10Fairbury3,902126
11Chadron5,829117
12Nebraska City7,279114
13McCook7,670113
14Fremont26,48314
15Kearney31,75913
16Grand Island50,05912
17Lincoln265,81110
18Omaha435,45410

Source: VCU Mapping the Klan, 1915-1940; current population data. 18 cities with at least one Klavern.

Summary

There You Have It – The Most Historically Racist Cities In Nebraska

When you’re looking at the places in Nebraska with the highest number of historical KKK Klaverns per capita, this is an accurate list.

Below is a chart that lists all cities in Nebraska with at least one KKK organization from 1915-1940.

The cities with the largest number of KKK Klaverns per capita were Ulysses, Litchfield, Edgar, Hay Springs, Trenton, Benkelman, Wood River, Central City, Minden, and Fairbury.

Chris Kolmar
About the author

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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