Pawnee City is located in Pawnee County (of which it is the county seat), situated southeast of Beatrice, between Table Rock and the Kansas boarder, along the banks of the Nemaha River.
The population estimate for July 1, 1998 was 884, a decrease of 124 since 1990.
A group of pioneers from Ohio, arriving in the Nebraska Territory in 1854, traveled up the Nemaha River until they came to a Pawnee Indian village on Turkey Creek. The settlement they formed nearby became a trading post for the area. Since the village was near the center of Pawnee County, it was selected as county seat in 1855. A post office was established on June 2, 1858.