Cass County, North Dakota

Cass County
	Cass County, North Dakota
	Cass County Courthouse in Fargo
	; Location in the state of North Dakota
	; North Dakota's location in the U.S.
Founded	1873
Named for	George Washington Cass
Seat	Fargo
Largest city	Fargo
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 1,768 sq mi (4,579 km²); 1,765 sq mi (4,571 km²); 3.0 sq mi (8 km²), 0.2
Population; - (2020); - Density	; 184,525 ;
Congressional district	At-large
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.cass.nd.us

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Cass County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 184,525.^[1] Cass County is the most populous county in North Dakota, accounting for nearly 24% of the state's population.^[2]^[3] The county seat is Fargo,^[4] the state's most populous city.

Cass County is part of the Fargo, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History[]

Cass County was defined by action of the Dakota Territory legislature on January 4, 1873, and its organization was effected on October 27 of that year. It was named for railroad executive George Washington Cass (1810 - 1888).^[5] Its boundaries were altered in 1875, and in 1961.^[6]^[7]

Geography[]

Cass County lies on the east side of North Dakota. Its east boundary line abuts the west boundary line of the state of Minnesota across the river. The Red River flows northward along the county's east boundary, on its way to Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay. The county's terrain consists of low rolling hills, devoted to agriculture except around developed areas.^[8] Its terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point on the southwestern corner at 1,194' (364m) ASL.^[9] The county has a total area of 1,768 square miles (4,580 km²), of which 1,765 square miles (4,570 km²) is land and 3.0 square miles (7.8 km²) (0.2%) is water.^[10]

Major highways[]

Interstate 29
Interstate 94
U.S. Highway 10
U.S. Highway 52
U.S. Highway 81
North Dakota Highway 10
North Dakota Highway 18
North Dakota Highway 38
North Dakota Highway 46
North Dakota Highway 294

Adjacent counties[]

Traill County - north
Norman County, Minnesota - northeast
Clay County, Minnesota - east
Richland County - southeast
Ransom County - southwest
Barnes County - west
Steele County - northwest

Lakes[]

Cass County has the following lakes:^[8]

Brewer Lake
Lake Bertha

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	8,998	—
1890	19,613	118.0%
1900	28,625	45.9%
1910	33,935	18.6%
1920	41,477	22.2%
1930	48,735	17.5%
1940	52,849	8.4%
1950	58,877	11.4%
1960	66,947	13.7%
1970	73,653	10.0%
1980	88,247	19.8%
1990	102,874	16.6%
2000	123,138	19.7%
2010	149,778	21.6%
US Decennial Census^[11] 1790-1960^[12] 1900-1990^[13] 1990-2000^[14] 2010-2020^[1]

2000 census[]

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 123,138 people, 51,315 households, and 29,814 families in the county. The population density was 70 people per square mile (27/km²). There were 53,790 housing units at an average density of 30 per square mile (12/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.10% White, 0.81% Black or African American, 1.08% Native American, 1.26% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. 1.23% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 34.1% were of German and 32.4% Norwegian ancestry.

There were 51,315 households, out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.9% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.98.

The county population contained 23.4% under the age of 18, 16.0% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.5 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,147, and the median income for a family was $51,469. Males had a median income of $32,216 versus $22,300 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,889. About 5.7% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.1% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census[]

As of the 2010 census, there were 149,778 people, 63,899 households, and 35,215 families in the county.^[15] The population density was 84.9 inhabitants per square mile (32.8 /km²). There were 67,938 housing units at an average density of 38.5 per square mile (14.9 /km²).^[16] The racial makeup of the county was 91.7% white, 2.4% Asian, 2.3% black or African American, 1.2% American Indian, 0.5% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.0% of the population.^[15] In terms of ancestry, 45.4% were German, 35.8% were Norwegian, 9.2% were Irish, 6.3% were Swedish, and 1.7% were American.^[17]

Of the 63,899 households, 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 44.9% were non-families, and 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 31.5 years.^[15]

The median income for a household in the county was $47,600 and the median income for a family was $68,858. Males had a median income of $42,557 versus $31,916 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,184. About 5.8% of families and 12.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.0% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.^[18]

Population by decade[]

Government[]

Cass County is governed by a board of commissioners elected to four-year terms. Other elected officials include the sheriff and state's attorney. Appointed officials include administrator, extension agent, director of tax equalization, finance auditor, highway engineer, human services officer, information technology coordinator, recorder, veterans service officer, and weed control officer.

District	Commissioner	In office since	Current term expires in
1st	Chad Peterson (Chair)	2012	2020
2nd	Rick Steen (vice chair)	2014	2022
3rd	Ken Pawluk	2019	2020
4th	Duane Breitling	2018	2022
5th	Mary Scherling	2012	2020

The current Sheriff is Jesse F. Jahner. Jahner has served as Sheriff of Cass County since January 2, 2019.

The voters of Cass County have historically tended to vote Republican. As recently as the 2004 presidential election, George W. Bush carried Cass County with nearly 60 percent of the vote. However, in recent elections, the county has become more politically diverse and competitive, particularly in Fargo. Since 2008, no Republican presidential candidate has received over 50% of the vote in Cass County. In 2008, Democratic candidate Barack Obama won the majority of votes in Cass County, with a voting percentage very close to the percentage Obama received in the entire nation, while John McCain won the majority of votes in North Dakota. Mitt Romney's winning margin in 2012 over Obama in Cass County was 49.9% to 47%, while Donald Trump received 49.3% of votes in 2016, compared to 38.8% for Hillary Clinton and 11.9% for third-party candidates. In 2018, Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp achieved a 14-point lead in Eastern North Dakota, although the state as a whole soundly elected Republican Kevin Cramer.

United States presidential election results for Cass County, North Dakota^[19]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	42,619	49.53%	40,311	46.84%	3,123	3.63%
2016	39,816	49.26%	31,361	38.80%	9,644	11.93%
2012	36,855	49.90%	34,712	47.00%	2,288	3.10%
2008	32,566	45.34%	37,622	52.37%	1,646	2.29%
2004	39,619	59.39%	26,010	38.99%	1,082	1.62%
2000	33,536	56.85%	21,451	36.36%	4,008	6.79%
1996	24,238	48.02%	21,693	42.98%	4,540	9.00%
1992	25,312	47.65%	18,077	34.03%	9,727	18.31%
1988	26,699	54.34%	22,107	44.99%	331	0.67%
1984	29,221	61.35%	18,054	37.91%	354	0.74%
1980	23,886	54.76%	13,562	31.09%	6,172	14.15%
1976	22,583	54.53%	17,879	43.17%	949	2.29%
1972	21,770	59.96%	14,073	38.76%	463	1.28%
1968	15,240	55.88%	10,819	39.67%	1,212	4.44%
1964	12,972	45.25%	15,674	54.67%	23	0.08%
1960	17,498	58.89%	12,213	41.11%	0	0.00%
1956	16,932	63.25%	9,821	36.69%	17	0.06%
1952	18,094	66.17%	9,193	33.62%	57	0.21%
1948	11,430	52.34%	9,937	45.51%	469	2.15%
1944	10,661	50.37%	10,390	49.09%	116	0.55%
1940	12,567	51.11%	11,911	48.45%	108	0.44%
1936	7,632	35.22%	12,400	57.22%	1,638	7.56%
1932	8,937	43.82%	11,094	54.40%	363	1.78%
1928	12,480	66.18%	6,315	33.49%	63	0.33%
1924	9,906	65.86%	1,352	8.99%	3,783	25.15%
1920	10,735	77.02%	2,817	20.21%	386	2.77%
1916	3,093	46.68%	3,303	49.85%	230	3.47%
1912	1,316	26.22%	1,814	36.14%	1,889	37.64%
1908	3,681	62.53%	2,000	33.97%	206	3.50%
1904	3,788	80.41%	609	12.93%	314	6.67%
1900	3,485	65.68%	1,636	30.83%	185	3.49%
1896	3,050	58.80%	2,089	40.27%	48	0.93%
1892	2,022	53.98%	0	0.00%	1,724	46.02%

Communities[]

Cities[]

Alice
Amenia
Argusville
Arthur
Ayr
Briarwood
Buffalo
Casselton
Davenport
Enderlin
Fargo (County seat)
Frontier
Gardner
Grandin
Harwood
Horace
Hunter
Kindred
Leonard
Mapleton
North River
Oxbow
Page
Prairie Rose
Reile's Acres
Tower City
West Fargo

Census-designated places[]

Brooktree Park
Embden
Erie
Wheatland

Unincorporated communities[]

Absaraka
Chaffee
Wild Rice
Prosper

Townships[]

Addison
Amenia
Arthur
Ayr
Barnes
Bell
Berlin
Buffalo
Casselton
Clifton
Cornell
Davenport
Dows
Durbin
Eldred
Empire
Erie
Everest
Fargo
Gardner
Gill
Gunkel
Harmony
Harwood
Highland
Hill
Howes
Hunter
Kinyon
Lake
Leonard
Maple River
Mapleton
Noble
Normanna
Page
Pleasant
Pontiac
Raymond
Reed
Rich
Rochester
Rush River
Stanley
Tower
Walburg
Warren
Watson
Wheatland
Wiser

References[]

^ ^a ^b "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Cass County, North Dakota" (in en). United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/casscountynorthdakota/PST045219.
^ Based on the 2020 Census: 184,525 / 779,094 (ND pop.) = 23.7%
^ "Top 100 Counties by Growth, 2017". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/PEP/2017/PEPANNGRC.US06.
^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx.
^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the US. Govt. Print. Off.. p. 71. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ.
^ "Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies". Dakota Territory Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library. 2006. http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/DAKs_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm.
^ "County History". North Dakota.gov. The State of North Dakota. http://www.nd.gov/content.htm?parentCatID=83&id=County%20History.
^ ^a ^b Cass County ND Google Maps (accessed February 16, 2019)
^ ""Find an Altitude/Cass County ND" Google Maps (accessed February 16, 2019)". https://www.daftlogic.com/sandbox-google-maps-find-altitude.htm.
^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". US Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_38.txt.
^ "US Decennial Census". US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html.
^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu.
^ Forstall, Richard L., ed (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/nd190090.txt.
^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". US Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US38017.
^ "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY07/0500000US38017.
^ "Selected Social Characteristics in the US – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US38017.
^ "Selected Economic Characteristics – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0500000US38017.
^ Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS.

External links[]

Cass County official website

Coordinates: 46°56′N 97°15′W / 46.93, -97.25

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Cass County, North Dakota. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.

[QF-1] "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Cass County, North Dakota" (in en). United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/casscountynorthdakota/PST045219.

[2] Based on the 2020 Census: 184,525 / 779,094 (ND pop.) = 23.7%

[3] "Top 100 Counties by Growth, 2017". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/PEP/2017/PEPANNGRC.US06.

[4] "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx.

[5] Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the US. Govt. Print. Off.. p. 71. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ.

[6] "Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies". Dakota Territory Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library. 2006. http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/DAKs_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm.

[7] "County History". North Dakota.gov. The State of North Dakota. http://www.nd.gov/content.htm?parentCatID=83&id=County%20History.

[CCND-8] Cass County ND Google Maps (accessed February 16, 2019)

[9] ""Find an Altitude/Cass County ND" Google Maps (accessed February 16, 2019)". https://www.daftlogic.com/sandbox-google-maps-find-altitude.htm.

[10] "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". US Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_38.txt.

[11] "US Decennial Census". US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html.

[12] "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu.

[13] Forstall, Richard L., ed (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/nd190090.txt.

[14] "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". US Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf.

[DC-15] "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US38017.

[16] "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY07/0500000US38017.

[17] "Selected Social Characteristics in the US – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US38017.

[18] "Selected Economic Characteristics – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0500000US38017.

[19] Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS.

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† - county seat
	Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area (ND-MN)
Counties	Cass \| Clay
Main Cities	Fargo† \| Moorhead† \| West Fargo \| Dilworth
Surrounding Areas	Alice \| Amenia \| Argusville \| Arthur \| Ayr \| Barnesville \| Briarwood \| Buffalo \| Casselton \| Comstock \| Davenport \| Enderlin \| Erie \| Felton \| Frontier \| Gardner \| Georgetown \| Grandin \| Glyndon \| Harwood \| Hawley \| Hitterdal \| Horace \| Hunter \| Kindred \| Leonard \| Mapleton \| North River \| Oxbow \| Page \| Prairie Rose \| Sabin \| Tower City \| Reile's Acres \| Ulen \| Wheatland