Pierce County, North Dakota

Pierce County
Pierce County
County
	Pierce County Courthouse
	Location within the U.S. state of North Dakota
	North Dakota's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 48°15′N 99°59′W / 48.25°N 99.98°W
Country	United States
State	North Dakota
Founded	March 11, 1887 (created); April 6, 1889 (organized)
Named for	Gilbert A. Pierce
Seat	Rugby
Largest city	Rugby
Area
• Total	1,082 sq mi (2,800 km2)
• Land	1,019 sq mi (2,640 km2)
• Water	64 sq mi (170 km2) 5.9%
Population (2020)
• Total	3,990
• Estimate (2022)	3,942
• Density	3.7/sq mi (1.4/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	At-large
Website	www.piercecountynd.gov

Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,990.^[1] Its county seat is Rugby.^[2]

History

The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on March 11, 1887, with areas partitioned from Bottineau, Rolette, McHenry and the now-extinct DeSmet counties. It was named for Gilbert A. Pierce, a Dakotas political figure. The county was not organized at that time, nor was it attached to another county for administrative or judicial purposes. It was attached to McHenry County on February 4, 1889, but that lasted only two months; on April 6 the county government was effected and the attachment to McHenry was terminated.

The county's boundaries were enlarged on November 8, 1892, when Church County was dissolved and a portion of its territory was annexed into Pierce.^[3]^[4]

The geographical center of North America is in Pierce County, approximately six miles (9.7 km) west of Balta.^[5] Rugby has a monument for the center at the intersection of U.S. 2 and N.D. 3.

Geography

The North Fork of the Sheyenne River flows easterly through central Pierce County. The county terrain consists of rolling hills, mostly devoted to agriculture.^[6] The terrain generally slopes to the north and east, with its highest point a hill near the SW county corner, at 1,634 ft (498 m) ASL.^[7] The county has a total area of 1,082 square miles (2,800 km²), of which 1,019 square miles (2,640 km²) is land and 64 square miles (170 km²) (5.9%) is water.^[8]

Major highways

Transit

Amtrak Empire Builder (Rugby station)

Adjacent counties

Rolette County - north
Towner County - northeast
Benson County - east
Wells County - southeast
Sheridan County - southwest
McHenry County - west
Bottineau County - northwest

Protected areas^[6]

Boyer National Wildlife Refuge
Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Hurricane Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Meyer Township National Wildlife Refuge

Lakes^[6]

Antelope Lakes
Aylmer Lake (part)
Battema Lake
Buffalo Lake
Clear Lake
Davis Lake
Girard Lake
Goose Lake
Gunderson Lake
Guss Lake
Horseshoe Lake
Kilgore Lake
Lesmeister Lake
Long Lake
Petrified Lake
Ranch Lake
Round Lake
Sand Lake
Smoky Lake (part)
Twin Lakes (part)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1890	905		—
1900	4,765		426.5%
1910	9,740		104.4%
1920	9,283		−4.7%
1930	9,074		−2.3%
1940	9,208		1.5%
1950	8,326		−9.6%
1960	7,394		−11.2%
1970	6,323		−14.5%
1980	6,166		−2.5%
1990	5,052		−18.1%
2000	4,675		−7.5%
2010	4,357		−6.8%
2020	3,990		−8.4%
2022 (est.)	3,942	^[9]	−1.2%
U.S. Decennial Census^[10] 1790-1960^[11] 1900-1990^[12] 1990-2000^[13] 2010-2020^[1]

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 3,990 people.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 4,357 people, 1,835 households, and 1,145 families in the county. The population density was 4.28 people per square mile (1.65 people/km²). There were 2,199 housing units at an average density of 2.16 units per square mile (0.83/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.1% white, 3.9% American Indian, 0.5% black or African American, 0.1% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 52.3% were German, 34.5% were Norwegian, 5.5% were Irish, and 2.0% were American.

Of the 1,835 households, 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.6% were non-families, and 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age was 46.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,091 and the median income for a family was $55,304. Males had a median income of $39,511 versus $21,811 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,575. About 6.4% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.2% of those under age 18 and 19.2% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

Communities

Cities

Balta
Rugby (county seat)
Wolford

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities^[6]

Leverich
Silva
Tunbridge

Townships

Alexanter
Antelope Lake
Balta
Elling
Elverum
Hagel
Jefferson
Meyer
Ness
Reno Valley
Rush Lake
Torgerson
Truman
Tuscarora
White

Politics

Pierce County voters have tended to vote Republican for decades. In only one national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2020).

United States presidential election results for Pierce County, North Dakota^[14]^[15]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	1,585	74.48%	497	23.36%	46	2.16%
2016	1,437	69.39%	431	20.81%	203	9.80%
2012	1,465	67.26%	660	30.30%	53	2.43%
2008	1,301	60.82%	792	37.03%	46	2.15%
2004	1,475	67.20%	686	31.25%	34	1.55%
2000	1,348	68.39%	500	25.37%	123	6.24%
1996	1,017	51.52%	671	33.99%	286	14.49%
1992	1,099	45.21%	761	31.30%	571	23.49%
1988	1,422	57.41%	1,008	40.69%	47	1.90%
1984	1,883	71.71%	691	26.31%	52	1.98%
1980	2,273	76.07%	517	17.30%	198	6.63%
1976	1,396	48.35%	1,434	49.67%	57	1.97%
1972	1,970	66.15%	973	32.67%	35	1.18%
1968	1,700	57.07%	1,048	35.18%	231	7.75%
1964	1,178	38.33%	1,893	61.60%	2	0.07%
1960	1,464	44.19%	1,848	55.78%	1	0.03%
1956	1,997	59.75%	1,340	40.10%	5	0.15%
1952	2,806	77.77%	773	21.42%	29	0.80%
1948	1,738	58.86%	1,147	38.84%	68	2.30%
1944	1,992	60.07%	1,307	39.41%	17	0.51%
1940	2,349	61.64%	1,451	38.07%	11	0.29%
1936	912	24.23%	2,168	57.60%	684	18.17%
1932	856	25.68%	2,439	73.18%	38	1.14%
1928	1,469	47.60%	1,606	52.04%	11	0.36%
1924	1,160	46.89%	157	6.35%	1,157	46.77%
1920	2,102	84.59%	294	11.83%	89	3.58%
1916	703	44.27%	789	49.69%	96	6.05%
1912	264	22.39%	453	38.42%	462	39.19%
1908	884	57.37%	610	39.58%	47	3.05%
1904	921	73.39%	284	22.63%	50	3.98%
1900	535	64.93%	276	33.50%	13	1.58%