Nelson County, North Dakota

Nelson County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,015,^[1] and was estimated to be 3,007 in 2024.^[2] The county seat and largest city is Lakota.^[3]

Nelson County
County
Water Tower behind Lakota City Hall
Location within the U.S. state of North Dakota
North Dakota's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 47.918667°N 98.204428°W / 47.918667; -98.204428
Country	United States
State	North Dakota
Founded	March 2, 1883 (created) June 9, 1883 (organized)
Seat	Lakota
Largest city	Lakota
Area
• Total	1,008.871 sq mi (2,612.96 km2)
• Land	981.815 sq mi (2,542.89 km2)
• Water	27.056 sq mi (70.07 km2)  2.68%
Population  (2020)
• Total	3,015
• Estimate  (2024)	3,007
• Density	3.064/sq mi (1.183/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Area code	701
Congressional district	At-large
Website	nelsonco.org

History

The Dakota Territory legislature created Nelson County on March 2, 1883, with areas annexed from Foster, Grand Forks and Ramsey counties, and with some previously unorganized area. It was not organized at that time, but was attached to Grand Forks County for administrative and judicial purposes. Its proposed boundary was enlarged on March 9, 1883, and on June 9, 1883, the county organization was effected and the administrative attachment to Grand Forks County was terminated.^[4][5]

Geography

The county terrain consists of rolling hills dotted with lakes and ponds. The area is largely devoted to agriculture.^[6] The terrain slopes to the south and east, with its highest point near the midpoint of its north boundary line, at 1,545 ft (471 m) ASL.^[7]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,008.871 square miles (2,612.96 km²), of which 981.815 square miles (2,542.89 km²) is land and 27.056 square miles (70.07 km²) (2.68%) is water.^[8] It is the 41st largest county in North Dakota by total area.^[9]

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 2
• North Dakota Highway 1
• North Dakota Highway 15
• North Dakota Highway 32
• North Dakota Highway 35

Adjacent counties

• Walsh County - northeast
• Grand Forks County - east
• Steele County - southeast
• Griggs County - south
• Eddy County - southwest
• Benson County - west
• Ramsey County - northwest

National protected areas

• Johnson Lake National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Lambs Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Rose Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Stump Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Lakes

Source:^[6]

• Bitter Lake
• Church Lake
• Hillesland Lake
• Johnson Lake
• Lake Laretta
• Mannie Lake
• Omild Slough
• Ottofy Lake
• Rose Lake
• Rugh Lake
• Stump Lake
• Swan Lake

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1890	4,293		—
1900	7,316		70.4%
1910	10,140		38.6%
1920	10,362		2.2%
1930	10,203		−1.5%
1940	9,129		−10.5%
1950	8,090		−11.4%
1960	7,034		−13.1%
1970	5,776		−17.9%
1980	5,233		−9.4%
1990	4,410		−15.7%
2000	3,715		−15.8%
2010	3,126		−15.9%
2020	3,015		−3.6%
2024 (est.)	3,007	[10]	−0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[11] 1790–1960[12] 1900–1990[13] 1990–2000[14] 2010–2020[2]

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Nelson County was $121,319.^[15]

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 1,295 estimated households in Nelson County with an average of 2.25 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $68,051. Approximately 9.8% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Nelson County has an estimated 55.7% employment rate, with 28.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 93.3% holding a high school diploma.^[2]

The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (94.5%), Spanish (1.1%), Indo-European (2.9%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.8%), and Other (0.6%).

The median age in the county was 50.4 years.

Nelson County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / ethnicity (NH = non-Hispanic)	Pop. 1980[16]	Pop. 1990[17]	Pop. 2000[18]	Pop. 2010[19]	Pop. 2020[20]
White alone (NH)	5,210 (99.56%)	4,391 (99.57%)	3,661 (98.55%)	3,018 (96.55%)	2,844 (94.33%)
Black or African American alone (NH)	1 (0.02%)	2 (0.05%)	3 (0.08%)	8 (0.26%)	6 (0.20%)
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	8 (0.15%)	6 (0.14%)	13 (0.35%)	28 (0.90%)	16 (0.53%)
Asian alone (NH)	2 (0.04%)	3 (0.07%)	11 (0.30%)	2 (0.06%)	9 (0.30%)
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	—	—	0 (0.00%)	1 (0.03%)	1 (0.03%)
Other race alone (NH)	2 (0.04%)	0 (0.00%)	0 (0.00%)	0 (0.00%)	5 (0.17%)
Mixed race or multiracial (NH)	—	—	21 (0.57%)	36 (1.15%)	65 (2.16%)
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	10 (0.19%)	8 (0.18%)	6 (0.16%)	33 (1.06%)	69 (2.29%)
Total	5,233 (100.00%)	4,410 (100.00%)	3,715 (100.00%)	3,126 (100.00%)	3,015 (100.00%)

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 3,007 people and 1,295 households residing in the county. There were 1,781 housing units at an average density of 1.81 per square mile (0.7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.1% White (90.8% NH White), 0.9% African American, 2.6% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.2% of the population.^[21]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 3,015 people, 1,386 households, and 829 families residing in the county.^[22] The population density was 3.07 inhabitants per square mile (1.2/km²). There were 1,791 housing units at an average density of 1.82 per square mile (0.7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.96% White, 0.20% African American, 0.86% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.76% from some other races and 2.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.29% of the population.^[23]

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 3,126 people, 1,474 households, and 905 families residing in the county. The population density was 3.18 inhabitants per square mile (1.2/km²). There were 1,927 housing units at an average density of 1.96 per square mile (0.8/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.15% White, 0.26% African American, 0.96% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.03% from some other races and 1.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.06% of the population.

In terms of ancestry, 52.3% were Norwegian, 34.1% were German, 8.2% were Irish, and 3.9% were American.

There were 1,474 households, 21.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.6% were non-families, and 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.66. The median age was 51.5 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,071 and the median income for a family was $51,731. Males had a median income of $33,629 versus $28,672 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,838. About 4.0% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.0% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

Communities

Cities

• Aneta
• Lakota (county seat)
• McVille
• Michigan City
• Pekin
• Petersburg
• Tolna

Census-designated place

• Dahlen

Unincorporated communities

• Kloten
• Mapes
• Pelto^[6]
• Whitman

Townships

• Adler
• Bergen
• Central
• Clara
• Dahlen
• Dayton
• Dodds
• Enterprise
• Field
• Forde
• Hamlin
• Illinois
• Lakota
• Lee
• Leval
• Melvin
• Michigan
• Nash
• Nesheim
• Ora
• Osago
• Petersburg
• Rubin
• Rugh
• Sarnia
• Wamduska
• Williams

Township Numbers and Range Numbers^[24]

	Range 61	Range 60	Range 59	Range 58	Range 57
Township 154		Clara	Enterprise	Sarnia	Dahlen
Township 153		Lakota	Rubin	Michigan	Nash
Township 152	Illinois	Dodds	Williams	Michigan	Petersburg
Township 151	Leval	Wamduska	Central	Melvin	Adler
Township 150	Dayton	Osago	Hamlin	Field	Rugh
Township 149	Forde	Bergen	Nesheim	Lee	Ora

Politics

Nelson County voters have slightly favored Republicans for the past several decades. Since 1964 the county selected the Republican Party candidate in 64% of national elections.

United States presidential election results for Nelson County, North Dakota^[25][26]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	1,141	64.79%	580	32.94%	40	2.27%
2020	1,141	64.21%	586	32.98%	50	2.81%
2016	1,025	59.70%	536	31.22%	156	9.09%
2012	865	51.55%	767	45.71%	46	2.74%
2008	800	45.66%	907	51.77%	45	2.57%
2004	1,107	57.60%	778	40.48%	37	1.93%
2000	1,031	56.03%	687	37.34%	122	6.63%
1996	745	41.41%	827	45.97%	227	12.62%
1992	864	39.17%	841	38.12%	501	22.71%
1988	1,078	48.06%	1,151	51.32%	14	0.62%
1984	1,445	57.50%	1,026	40.83%	42	1.67%
1980	1,611	62.08%	726	27.98%	258	9.94%
1976	1,336	44.31%	1,610	53.40%	69	2.29%
1972	1,625	53.67%	1,358	44.85%	45	1.49%
1968	1,526	48.26%	1,477	46.71%	159	5.03%
1964	1,101	33.50%	2,186	66.50%	0	0.00%
1960	1,934	52.00%	1,783	47.94%	2	0.05%
1956	1,821	50.35%	1,794	49.60%	2	0.06%
1952	2,443	62.96%	1,418	36.55%	19	0.49%
1948	1,672	47.26%	1,629	46.04%	237	6.70%
1944	1,506	43.77%	1,925	55.94%	10	0.29%
1940	1,859	43.07%	2,435	56.42%	22	0.51%
1936	1,002	22.31%	2,954	65.78%	535	11.91%
1932	956	23.14%	3,176	76.86%	0	0.00%
1928	2,364	60.18%	1,542	39.26%	22	0.56%
1924	1,697	49.20%	175	5.07%	1,577	45.72%
1920	3,127	84.49%	501	13.54%	73	1.97%
1916	1,013	50.98%	861	43.33%	113	5.69%
1912	448	26.34%	526	30.92%	727	42.74%
1908	1,225	63.80%	616	32.08%	79	4.11%
1904	1,284	74.61%	340	19.76%	97	5.64%
1900	994	61.24%	576	35.49%	53	3.27%

Education

School districts include:^[27]

• Dakota Prairie Public School District 1
• Midkota Public School District 7
• Fordville-Lankin Public School District 5
• Lakota Public School District 66
• Larimore Public School District 44
• Northwood Public School District 129

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Nelson County, North Dakota