"Greater Grand Forks" (officially the Grand Forks, ND-MN

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

) is the name used by some people to designate the

twin cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

and

East Grand Forks, Minnesota East Grand Forks (also known as EGF) is a city in Polk County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,176 at the 2020 Census, making it the largest community in Polk County. It is located in the Red River Valley region along the easte ...

, together with their surrounding areas. The two cities lie directly across from each other on both sides of the

Red River of the North The Red River (french: rivière Rouge or ) is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, it fl ...

, but Grand Forks, with a population of 59,166, is more than five times larger than East Grand Forks, with a population of 9,176. The metropolitan area includes all of the related two counties in the two states: Grand Forks County in North Dakota and

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

in Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 104,362, and in 2021 estimates placed the total population at 103,462. The metropolitan area is also sometimes called "The Forks." Several years ago local promoters attempted to "brand" the metropolitan area as "The Grand Cities." This name has not found widespread use in the area, although several buildings and organizations now bear the "Grand Cities" title. Occasionally, the city of Grand Forks uses the nickname "The Sunflake City."

Communities

Places with more than 50,000 inhabitants

Grand Forks, ND Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

(Principal city)

Places with 5,000 to 10,000 inhabitants

* Crookston, MN * East Grand Forks, MN

Places with 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants

* Fosston, MN *

Grand Forks Air Force Base Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and west of Grand Forks. The host unit is the 319th Reconnaissance Wing (319 RW) assigned to the Air Combat Co ...

* Larimore, ND * Thompson, ND

Places with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants

* Beltrami, MN * Climax, MN * Emerado, ND * Erskine, MN * Fertile, MN * Fisher, MN * Gilby, ND * Gully, MN * Inkster, ND * Lengby, MN * Manvel, ND * McIntosh, MN * Mentor, MN * Niagara, ND * Nielsville, MN * Northwood, ND * Reynolds, ND * Trail, MN * Winger, MN

Unincorporated places

* Arvilla, ND * Bygland, MN * Calspur, ND * Kelly, ND * Mallory, MN * Mekinock, ND * Merrifield, ND * North Grand Forks, ND * Ojata, ND * Oakville, ND * Powell, ND

Demographics

According to the 2006–2008

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

, the population of the Greater Grand Forks metro area was 97,260, of which 50.9% were male and 49.1% were female.

Age

* Under 5 years: 6.3% * 5–9 years: 5.5% * 10–14 years: 6.1% * 15–19 years: 9.6% * 20–24 years: 13.3% * 25–34 years: 12.7% * 35–44 years: 11.3% * 45–54 years: 13.6% * 55–59 years: 5.4% * 60–64 years: 4.2% * 65–74 years: 5.6% * 75–84 years: 4.5% * 85 years and over: 2.0% * Median age: 31.8 years

Race

According to the same survey, the racial composition was as follows: *

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

: 92.5% (

Non-Hispanic Whites Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...

: 90.8%) * Black or African American: 1.3% * American Indian: 2.4% *

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

: 0.8% * Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.0% * Some other race: 1.7% *

Two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

: 1.3% *

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...

(of any race): 3.6%

Ancestry

According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, the top ten European ancestry groups were the following: *

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: 38.8% *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: 32.9% *

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: 9.4% *

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: 6.4% *

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: 6.2% * French: 6.1% *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: 5.2% *

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

: 2.5% * American: 2.2% *

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

: 1.8%

Language spoken at home

*Population 5 years and over: 91,118 * English only: 95.1% * Language other than English: 4.9% * Spanish: 2.3% * Other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

: 2.1% *

and Pacific Islander languages: 0.4% * Other languages: 0.1%

Education

K-12

Public schools

The

Grand Forks Public Schools Grand Forks Public Schools (GFPS) is a system of K-12 schools in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. GFPS comprises two school districts: the Grand Forks School District and the Grand Forks Air Force Base School District. There are twelve el ...

system serves Grand Forks and Grand Forks Air Force Base. The district consists of 12 elementary schools, four middle schools, two high schools, an

alternative high school Alternative High School (AHS) is a public senior high (secondary) school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; which teaches grades 10 through 12. AHS is currently located at the Clinton Ford Centre, which was home to the former Clinton Ford Elementary Sc ...

, an adult learning center, and a

Head Start program Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. The program's s ...

. The East Grand Forks School District serves East Grand Forks and the surrounding rural areas. The district consists of two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. The Crookston School District 593 serves Crookston and the surrounding rural areas. The district consists of two elementary schools and a high school.

Private schools

In Grand Forks, St. Michael's Catholic Church and Holy Family Catholic Church both have Catholic elementary schools. There are no Catholic middle or high schools in Grand Forks, but East Grand Forks is home to Sacred Heart Catholic Church's school, which educates from kindergarten through the 12th grade. East Grand Forks is also home to Riverside Christian School, a nondenominational elementary school.

Higher education

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

(

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

) * Northland Community & Technical College ( East Grand Forks)* *

University of Minnesota Crookston The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMN Crookston) is a public college in Crookston, Minnesota. One of five campuses in the University of Minnesota system, UMN Crookston had a fall 2022 enrollment of 1,489 undergraduate students. Students come ...

( Crookston) ''*also has a campus in

Thief River Falls, Minnesota Thief River Falls, sometimes referred to as Thief River or abbreviated as TRF, is a city in Pennington County in the northwest portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,749 at the 2020 census. Thief River Falls is the county ...

Media

''See Media in Grand Forks, North Dakota for a list of newspapers, television stations, and radio stations''

Print

The major daily newspaper is the ''

Grand Forks Herald The ''Grand Forks Herald'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, established in 1879, published in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It is the primary daily paper for northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. Its average daily circulat ...

''. The only other daily newspaper in the area is the ''

Crookston Daily Times The ''Crookston Daily Times'' is an American twice weekly newspaper published weekday afternoons in Crookston, Minnesota. It is owned by CherryRoad Media. The newspaper covers Crookston and Polk County, Minnesota, and is one of two daily news ...

'' of Crookston. ''

The Exponent The ''Purdue Exponent'' is an independent student newspaper that serves Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is published on Mondays and Thursdays during university semesters by the Purdue Student Publishing Foundation, and is Indiana ...

'' of East Grand Forks is a weekly newspaper. ''

The Dakota Student ''The Dakota Student'' is the student-run newspaper publication of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The newspaper was first published in 1888, but went through several short lived name changes. It grew out of a pub ...

'' is a campus newspaper published twice a week (during the school year) by students of the

. There are also several other weekly newspapers in the area including the ''

Hillsboro Banner The ''Hillsboro Banner'' is a weekly newspaper published in Hillsboro, North Dakota in the United States. The ''Banner'' is the oldest weekly newspaper in the state of North Dakota. It was first published in 1879 and became the official newspap ...

''.

Television

The metropolitan area receives all major

broadcast network A terrestrial network (or broadcast network in the United States) is a group of radio stations, television stations, or other electronic media outlets, that form an agreement to air, or broadcast, content from a centralized source. For example, ...

s over the air, along with

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

, and

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

television. The major cable television company is

Midcontinent Communications Midco (known as Midcontinent Communications until 2016) is a regional cable provider, providing a triple play service of Cable television, Internet and telephone service for both North Dakota and South Dakota, along with much of Minnesota, and s ...

. The only broadcast stations based in the metro area are

WDAZ-TV WDAZ-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Devils Lake, North Dakota, United States, serving the Grand Forks area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the Forum Communications Company, which also owns the ''Grand Forks Herald''. ...

8 (

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

) and KCPM 27 ( MNTV).

KVLY-TV KVLY-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Fargo, North Dakota, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Horace-licensed low-power dual CBS/ CW+ affiliate KXJB-LD (channel 30). Both stations share s ...

and

KRDK-TV KRDK-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Valley City, North Dakota, United States, serving the Fargo–Grand Forks market. Owned by Major Market Broadcasting, it is affiliated with multiple networks on various digital subchanne ...

both have news bureaus in Grand Forks, though the stations are based in Fargo. Local TV stations include: *

Channel 4 (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

) – based in

Fargo, ND Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city i ...

( digital channel 38) *

Channel 8 (

) * WDAZ-DT2, digital channel 8.2, Cable channel 7 (

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

) * KBRR Channel 10 (

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

) – rebroadcasts

KVRR KVRR (channel 15) is a television station in Fargo, North Dakota, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is the flagship television property of locally based Red River Broadcasting, which has owned the station since its inception. ...

Channel 11 (

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

) * KCGE Digital Channel 16 (

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

) – main studio in

, cable channel 13 *K17HG Channel 17 ( 3ABN) – religious programming –

Digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previou ...

channel 192 * KCPM Channel 27 ( MNTV) – cable channel 9 *K49FF Channel 49 ( TBN) – religious programming, (

channel 73, 190 & 109.7)

Radio

:''See Media in Grand Forks, North Dakota for a list of all radio stations'' There are several radio stations available in the area. All of the commercial radio stations in Grand Forks are owned by either

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

or Leighton Broadcasting. The area is also served by stations of North Dakota Public Radio (KUND 89.3 FM and KFJM 90.7 FM) and Minnesota Public Radio (KQMN 91.5 FM European classical music, classical music and KNTN 102.7 FM Talk radio, news/talk). Several religious organizations have Christian radio stations throughout the area.

Notes

{{coord, 47, 55, 37, N, 97, 01, 42, W, format=dms, display=title, type:adm3rd_region:US-ND Greater Grand Forks, Metropolitan areas of North Dakota Metropolitan areas of Minnesota