Cass County, North Dakota

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	January 4, 1873
Seat	Fargo
Largest city	Fargo
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	1,768 sq mi (4,579 km²) 1,765 sq mi (4,571 km²) 3 sq mi (8 km²), 0.15%
PopulationEst.  - (2012)  - Density	156,157 70/sq mi (27/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.cass.nd.us

Cass County is a county located in the state of North Dakota, USA. As of the 2010 census, the population was 149,778. Its county seat is Fargo. Cass County is the most populous and fastest growing county in North Dakota, accounting for 22% of the states population. Cass County is part of the Fargo, ND–MN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Cass County dates back to the days of the Dakota Territory. It was one of the original counties defined in 1872, and was organized on October 27, 1873, at a meeting in Fargo. It was named after railroad executive George Washington Cass (1810 - 1888).

Government

Presidential Election Results 1960–2012

Year	Democrat	Republican
2012	47.0% 34,712	49.9% 36,855
2008	52.4% 37,622	45.3% 32,566
2004	39.0% 26,010	59.4% 39,619
2000	36.4% 21,451	56.8% 33,536
1996	43.0% 21,693	48.0% 24,238
1992	34.0% 18,077	47.7% 25,312
1988	45.0% 22,107	54.3% 26,699
1984	37.9% 18,054	61.4% 29,221
1980	31.1% 13,562	54.8% 23,886
1976	43.2% 17,879	54.5% 22,583
1972	38.8% 14,073	60.0% 21,770
1968	39.7% 10,819	55.9% 15,240
1964	54.7% 15,674	45.2% 12,972
1960	41.1% 12,213	58.9% 17,498

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

District	Commissioner	In office since	Current term expires in
1st	Scott Wagner	2000	????
2nd	Vern Bennett	2002	????
3rd	Ken Pawluk	2004	????
4th	Darrell Vanyo (Vice Chair)	2002	????
5th	Robyn Sorum (Chair)	2000	????

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,768 square miles (4,579.1 km²), of which 1,765 square miles (4,571.3 km²) is land and 3 square miles (7.8 km²) (0.15%) is water.

Townships

Addison Amenia Arthur Ayr Barnes Bell Berlin Buffalo Casselton Chaffee 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

Major highways

Interstate 29 Interstate 94 U.S. Highway 10 U.S. Highway 52

U.S. Highway 81 North Dakota Highway 18 North Dakota Highway 38 North Dakota Highway 46

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)

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%
Est. 2012	156,157		4.3%
U.S. Decennial Census 2012 Estimate

As of the census of 2000, there were 123,138 people, 51,315 households, and 29,814 families residing 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 according to the 2000 census.

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.

In the county the population was spread out with 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.

Population by decade

Places

Cass County Courthouse

Cities

1. Fargo 105,549 2. West Fargo 25,830 3. Horace 2,430 4. Casselton 2,329 5. Mapleton 762 6. Harwood 718 7. Kindred 692 8. Reile's Acres 513 9. Argusville 475 10. Arthur 337 11. Oxbow 305 12. Hunter 261 13. Tower City 253

14. Davenport 252 15. Page 232 16. Leonard 223 17. Frontier 214 18. Buffalo 188 19. Grandin 173 20. Amenia 94 21. Gardner 74 22. Briarwood 73 23. Prairie Rose 73 24. North River 56 25. Alice 40 26. Ayr 17

Note: all incorporated communities in North Dakota are called "cities" regardless of their size.

2010 United States Census population

Census-designated places

• Erie
• Wheatland

Other community

• Absaraka

See also

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

External links

• Cass County official website