Cass County, North Dakota

Cass County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 184,525, making it the most populous county in North Dakota, and was estimated to be 200,945 in 2024. It contains over 25.23% of the state's population. The county seat is Fargo, the state's most populous city. The county is named for George Washington Cass, president of the Northern Pacific Railway from 1872 to 1875. It is the only Cass County in the United States that is not named after Lewis Cass.

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

History

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

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.''Cass County ND'' Google Maps (accessed February 16, 2019)
/ref> Its terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point on the southwestern corner at ASL.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.16%) is water. It is the 10th largest county in North Dakota by total area.

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

Transit

* Amtrak ''Empire Builder'' ('' Fargo station'')
* Jefferson Lines
* MATBUS

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:
* Brewer Lake
* Lake Bertha

Demographics

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Cass County was $301,108.

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 81,668 estimated households in Cass County with an average of 2.24 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $75,023. Approximately 9.7% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Cass County has an estimated 75.8% employment rate, with 43.3% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 95.8% 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 (92.7%), Spanish (0.3%), Indo-European (0.2%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.0%), and Other (6.7%).

The median age in the county was 32.6 years.

Cass County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 200,945 people and 81,668 households residing in the county. There were 92,465 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 85.3% White ''(82.2% NH White)'', 7.3% African American, 1.7% Native American, 3.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.8% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 184,525 people, 78,672 households, and 42,849 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 85,397 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 82.00% White, 7.03% African American, 1.42% Native American, 3.29% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.08% from some other races and 5.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.35% of the population.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 149,778 people, 63,899 households, and 35,215 families in the county. The population density was . There were 67,938 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.67% White, 2.29% African American, 1.22% Native American, 2.36% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.53% from some other races and 1.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.01% of the population.

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.

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.

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.

Population by decade

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Government

County Commissioners

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.

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. 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 (52.69% in 2024), 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.

In the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, Fargo falls into 9 districts: 10th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 27th, 41st and 44th-46th. In the House, it's represented by 7 Democrats and 11 Republicans, in Senate by 4 Democrats and 5 Republicans.

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

Education

School districts include:
Text list

2010 map
an
2010 text list
- Hope-Page formed in 2020, but both the 2010 and 2020 maps show Page as a separate district

K-12:

* Central Cass Public School District 17
* Enderlin Area Public School District 24
* Fargo Public Schools
* Hope-Page Public Schools
* Kindred Public School District 2
* Maple Valley Public School District
* May-Port CG Public School District 14
* Northern Cass Public School District 97
* West Fargo Public Schools

Elementary:
* Mapleton Public School District 7

Former districts:
* Page Public School District 80 - Consolidated with Hope district in 2020 - Check the 2020-2021 spreadsheet, which lists a single "Hope Page" school district, and compare with all previous sheets which show them as two separate school districts.

See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Cass County, North Dakota

References

External links

Cass County – official website
* Cass County maps
Sheet 1
(northern) an
Sheet 2
(southern), ''North Dakota DOT''

{{Authority control

Fargo–Moorhead
1873 establishments in Dakota Territory
Populated places established in 1873