Bowman County, North Dakota

Bowman County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,993, and was estimated to be 2,762 in 2025.

History

The legislature of the Dakota Territory designated Bowman (named for Edward M. Bowman, a member of the territorial House of Representatives during the 1883 session) as a separate county on March 8, 1883, although it was not organized at that time. In 1885, its boundaries were altered ceding territory to Billings and Villard Counties (Villard itself was eliminated in 1887). In 1891, and again in 1896, the South Dakota legislature eliminated the not-yet-organized Bowman County, due to scant settlement in the area, but these actions either were not put into effect (the 1891 vote) or were overturned in judicial appeal (the 1896 vote).

A decision by the North Dakota Supreme Court on May 24, 1901, resurrected Bowman County. The decision caused the county's area to slightly increase; its former boundary descriptions were replaced by descriptions based on the boundary lines of adjacent jurisdictions, which added a strip along its south border and another strip along its east border.

Since the scantily populated county was still unorganized, in March 1903 the legislature attached the area to Stark County for judicial purposes. This state of affairs continued until November 1904, when the legislature again dissolved the county and assigned its territory to Billings County. However, on June 10, 1907, ND Governor John Burke issued a proclamation which re-created Bowman County. This proclamation did not attach the area to any other area for judicial purposes. On July 5, 1907, the new county was organized and Bowman was confirmed to be the county seat.

The US Navy ship USS Bowman County (LST-391), a tank landing ship in World War II, was named for the county.

Geography

Bowman County lies at the southwestern corner of North Dakota; its south boundary line abuts the north boundary line of the state of South Dakota, and its west boundary line abuts the east boundary line of the state of Montana. The Little Missouri River flows northward through the west part of the county; the North Fork of the Grand River flows easterly through the lower part of the county, filling Bowman-Haley Lake in the process. Spring Creek flows south-southeasterly through the central part of the county, discharging into Bowman-Haley Lake.

Bowman County's terrain consists of semi-arid high hills running north–south through the west-central part of the county, with lower hills in the remaining territory. The area is partially used for agriculture. The western part slopes to the north and west; the eastern part slopes to the east and south. Its highest point is on the south boundary line, toward its southwestern corner, at ASL.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.45%) is water. It is the 27th largest county in North Dakota by total area.

Major highways

25px U.S. Highway 12
25px U.S. Highway 85
25px North Dakota Highway 67

Adjacent counties

Slope County - north
Adams County - east
Harding County, South Dakota - south
Fallon County, Montana - west

Lakes

Bowman-Haley Lake
Gascoyne Lake

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|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020 As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 1,237 estimated households in Bowman County with an average of 2.32 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $83,773. Approximately 9.5% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Bowman County has an estimated 65.2% employment rate, with 27.3% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 90.2% 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 (95.7%), Spanish (2.5%), Indo-European (1.8%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.0%), and Other (0.0%). The median age in the county was 42.7 years.

Bowman County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 95%;"

! Race / ethnicity (NH = non-Hispanic)

! Pop. 1980 !! Pop. 1990 !! Pop. 2000 !! Pop. 2010 !!

| White alone (NH)

| 4,204 (99.41%) || 3,580 (99.56%) || 3,195 (98.55%) || 3,039 (96.45%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |2,760 (92.22%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || 1 (0.03%) || 3 (0.10%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |0 (0.00%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 10 (0.24%) || 4 (0.11%) || 5 (0.15%) || 13 (0.41%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |34 (1.14%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 2 (0.05%) || 4 (0.11%) || 1 (0.03%) || 2 (0.06%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |17 (0.57%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |3 (0.10%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 7 (0.17%) || 2 (0.06%) || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |0 (0.00%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 18 (0.56%) || 16 (0.51%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |50 (1.67%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 6 (0.14%) || 6 (0.17%) || 22 (0.68%) || 78 (2.48%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |129 (4.31%)

| Total

| 4,229 (100.00%) || 3,596 (100.00%) || 3,242 (100.00%) || 3,151 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |2,993 (100.00%)

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 2,886 people and 1,237 households residing in the county. There were 1,638 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.8% White (91.8% NH White), 0.6% African American, 2.9% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.8% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,993 people, 1,294 households, and 835 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 1,633 housing units at an average density of .

Of the residents, 23.4% were under the age of 18 and 23.6% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 43.8 years. For every 100 females there were 104.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 105.6 males.

The racial makeup of the county was 93.3% White, 0.0% Black or African American, 1.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% Asian, 1.3% from some other race, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 4.3% of the population.

There were 1,294 households in the county, of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 19.7% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.|source2=

References

External links

Bowman County – official website
Bowman County map, North Dakota DOT