Burke County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

on the north edge of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, adjacent to the south line of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,201, and was estimated to be 2,154 in 2024, The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Bowbells and the largest city is Powers Lake. The county is named after John Burke, the tenth

Governor of North Dakota The governor of North Dakota is the head of government of North Dakota and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's North Dakota National Guard, military forces. The Constitution of North Dakota specifies that "the executive power is ves ...

History

A vote was held on November 3, 1908, in which county voters authorized the partition of Burke County from what was then known as 'Imperial Ward County' (which consisted of what is now Burke, Mountrail, Renville, and

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

counties). Its name recognized the state governor at the time, John Burke. However, the vote was challenged in court, and appealed to the state supreme court. That court ruled on June 3, 1910, to uphold the election results, so on July 12, Governor Burke issued a proclamation creating Burke County. Its organization was effected on July 15, with Bowbells as its county seat. The county is managed by a two-member Board of Commissioners: Richard Owings (Lignite) and Shannon Holter (Bowbells). As of 2025 the board chair is Jarret Van Berkom.

Geography

Burke County lies on the north line of North Dakota. Its north boundary line abuts the south boundary line of

. The Des Lacs River flows south-southeasterly through the east part of the county, and the White Earth River flows northeasterly through the lower part. The county terrain consists of semi-arid low hills in the northeast part of the county, with higher carved and eroded ridges on the southwestern portion of the county. The area is partly used for agriculture.''Burke County ND'' Google Maps (accessed February 15, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the north; its highest point is on the lower west boundary line, at ASL. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.25%) is water. It is the 33rd largest county in North Dakota by total area.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 52 * North Dakota Highway 5 * North Dakota Highway 8 * North Dakota Highway 40 * North Dakota Highway 50

Adjacent counties and rural municipalities

* Estevan No. 5, Saskatchewan – north * Coalfields No. 4, Saskatchewan – north * Enniskillen No. 3, Saskatchewan – north * Renville County – east * Ward County – southeast * Mountrail County – south * Williams County – southwest * Divide County – west

Protected areas

* Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge (part) * Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Lakes

* Beaver Lake * Enget Lake * Iverson Slough * Powers Lake (part) * Shallow Lake * Swensons Slouth * Teal Slough * Thompson Slough * Upper Thompson Lake

Demographics

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Burke County was $150,351. As of the 2023

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, there are 931 estimated households in Burke County with an average of 2.32 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $96,339. Approximately 9.0% of the county's population lives at or below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. Burke County has an estimated 64.6% employment rate, with 23.5% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 92.7% holding a high school diploma. 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 (95.9%), Spanish (1.5%), Indo-European (0.2%), Asian and Pacific Islander (2.4%), and Other (0.0%). The median age in the county was 41.1 years. Burke County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 2,154 people and 931 households residing in the county. There were 1,383 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.5% White ''(91.2% NH White)'', 0.8% African American, 1.6% Native American, 1.0% 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 3.6% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,201 people, 954 households, and 576 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 1,378 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.59%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.59%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.14% Native American, 0.55% Asian, 0.00%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.68% from some other races and 2.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.68% of the population.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,968 people, 913 households, and 567 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 1,340 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.76%

, 0.20%

, 0.76% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.00%

, 0.00% from some other races and 0.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.88% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 45.2% were of Norwegian, 34.9% German, 13% Swedish, and 10% Danish. There were 913 households, 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.9% were non-families, and 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.74. The median age was 48.1 years. The median income for a household in the county was $50,800 and the median income for a family was $62,283. Males had a median income of $49,958 versus $27,206 for females. The per capita income for the county was $32,347. About 3.3% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the

, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.55,0.0,0.0) ImageSize = width:650 height:325 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:10000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1250 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1910 text:1910 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1980 text:1980 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2024 text:present PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1910 from: 0 till:9064 bar:1920 from: 0 till:9511 bar:1930 from: 0 till:9998 bar:1940 from: 0 till:7653 bar:1950 from: 0 till:6621 bar:1960 from: 0 till:5886 bar:1970 from: 0 till:4739 bar:1980 from: 0 till:3822 bar:1990 from: 0 till:3002 bar:2000 from: 0 till:2242 bar:2010 from: 0 till:1968 bar:2020 from: 0 till:2201 bar:2024 from: 0 till:2154 color:darkblue PlotData= bar:1910 at:9064 fontsize:M text:9,064 shift:(-16,6) bar:1920 at:9511 fontsize:M text:9,511 shift:(-16,6) bar:1930 at:9998 fontsize:M text:9,998 shift:(-16,6) bar:1940 at:7653 fontsize:M text:7,653 shift:(-16,6) bar:1950 at:6621 fontsize:M text:6,621 shift:(-16,6) bar:1960 at:5886 fontsize:M text:5,886 shift:(-16,6) bar:1970 at:4739 fontsize:M text:4,739 shift:(-16,6) bar:1980 at:3822 fontsize:M text:3,822 shift:(-16,6) bar:1990 at:3002 fontsize:M text:3,002 shift:(-16,6) bar:2000 at:2242 fontsize:M text:2,242 shift:(-16,6) bar:2010 at:1968 fontsize:M text:1,968 shift:(-16,6) bar:2020 at:2201 fontsize:M text:2,201 shift:(-16,6) bar:2024 at:2154 fontsize:M text:2,154 shift:(-16,6) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Economy

The main industries in Burke County are farming and oil extraction. Burke County is one of several western North Dakota counties with significant exposure to the Bakken Formation in the

Williston Basin The Williston Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in eastern Montana, western North Dakota, South Dakota, southern Saskatchewan, and south-western Manitoba that is known for its rich deposits of petroleum and potash. The basin is a ...

Communities

Cities

* Bowbells (county seat) * Columbus * Flaxton *

Lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

* Portal * Powers Lake

Census-designated place

* Larson

Unincorporated communities

* Atcoal * Battleview * Coteau * Kincaid * Northgate * Perella * Rival * Stampede * Woburn

Townships

* Battleview * Bowbells * Carter * Clayton * Cleary * Colville * Dale * Dimond * Fay * Foothills * Forthun * Garness * Harmonious * Kandiyohi * Keller * Lakeview * Leaf Mountain * Lucy * Minnesota * North Star * Portal * Richland * Roseland * Short Creek * Soo * Thorson * Vale * Vanville * Ward

Politics

Burke County voters have been reliably Republican for several decades. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024). In 1912, it was one of only four counties nationwide to vote for Socialist nominee Eugene Debs.

References

{{Authority control 1910 establishments in North Dakota Populated places established in 1910