Crete is a city in and the most populous municipality of Saline County, Nebraska, United States.

[3] The name was also chosen to conform with the alphabetical stops on the new Burlington & Quincy Railroad line traveling westward from Lincoln: Berks, Crete, Dorchester, Exeter, Fairmont, Grafton, Harvard, Inland, Junianta, Kenesaw, Lowell, Minden etc.

It was planned to have a town every 9 miles on the railroad, as a steam engine needed to fill up with water periodically.

[5] On February 18, 1969, Crete was the site of a railroad accident that released a fog of anhydrous ammonia fumes from a ruptured railroad tank car, killing five residents and seriously injuring 11 others in their homes.

[6] Another three people, hoboes who had been riding on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad freight train as it traveled from Denver to Chicago, died of injuries received in the train derailment.

[7] The 2020 United States census[12] counted 7,099 people, 2,286 households, and 1,590 families in Crete.

27.0% of households consisted of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

At the 2010 census there were 6,960 people, 2,199 households, and 1,447 families living in the city.

The racial makeup of the city was 70.6% White, 1.0% African American, 0.5% Native American, 2.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 23.1% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races.

At the 2000 census, there were 6,028 people, 2,078 households, and 1,317 families living in the city.

[15] Media related to Crete, Nebraska at Wikimedia Commons