Dawson County is located near the center of the state of Nebraska, USA. It lies in the Central Time Zone and covers an area of about 1,019 square miles (2,640 km²), mostly land with a small percentage of water. The county seat and largest city is Lexington. Dawson County is part of the Lexington, NE Micropolitan Statistical Area and is bordered by Buffalo County to the east, Phelps County to the southeast, Gosper County to the south, Frontier County to the southwest, Lincoln County to the west, and Custer County to the north
. Major highways passing through Dawson County include Interstate 80, U.S. Highway 30, and U.S. Highway 283, among others
. In summary, Dawson County is centrally located within Nebraska, with Lexington as its administrative and population center
