Divide County, North Dakota

Divide County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,195, and was estimated to be 2,110 in 2025.

History

During the election on November 8, 1910, the voters of Williams County determined that the county should be divided into a northern and a southern county. The vote was affirmative; the southern portion retained the Williams name; the newly created county was named "Divide", with Crosby as the seat. The county government was effected on December 9 of that year, and the county's boundaries have remained unchanged since that time. Most histories attribute the county name to its "division" from Williams County, though the county's location on the Laurentian Divide, separating runoff waters between Hudson Bay and Gulf of Mexico, may have been involved.

In 1911, Divide County was the site of one of the deadliest tornadoes in North Dakota's recorded history, causing four known deaths.

Geography

Divide County lies at the northwest corner of North Dakota. Its northern boundary line abuts the south boundary line of Canada, opposite Saskatchewan, and its west boundary line abuts the east boundary line of the state of Montana. The terrain of Divide County consists of semi-arid rolling hills, dotted with lakes and ponds, partially devoted to agriculture. The terrain generally slopes to the east; the northern part also slopes to the north while the southern part slopes to the south.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.59%) is water. It is the 24th largest county in North Dakota by total area.

Divide County is one of several western North Dakota counties with significant exposure to the Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin.

Major highways

25px U.S. Highway 85
25px North Dakota Highway 5
25px North Dakota Highway 40
25px North Dakota Highway 42

Adjacent counties and rural municipalities

Rural Municipality (RM) of Lake Alma No. 8, Saskatchewan (SK) – northwest
RM of Souris Valley No. 7, SK – north
RM of Cambria No. 6, SK – north
RM of Estevan No. 5, SK – northeast
Burke County – east
Williams County – south
Sheridan County, Montana – west

Lakes

Bright Water Lake
McCone Lake
Miller Lake
Musta Lake
North Lake
Rattler Lake
Round Lake (part)
Willow 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 935 estimated households in Divide County with an average of 2.24 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $89,297. Approximately 9.8% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Divide County has an estimated 59.2% employment rate, with 20.4% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 88.4% 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 (98.8%), Spanish (0.0%), Indo-European (0.6%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.3%), and Other (0.2%).

The median age in the county was 47.3 years.

Divide 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)

| 3,480 (99.60%) || 2,876 (99.21%) || 2,251 (98.60%) || 2,006 (96.86%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |2,024 (92.21%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 0 (0.00%) || 1 (0.03%) || 0 (0.00%) || 5 (0.24%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |23 (1.05%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 9 (0.26%) || 9 (0.31%) || 3 (0.13%) || 10 (0.48%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |17 (0.77%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 1 (0.03%) || 6 (0.21%) || 12 (0.53%) || 6 (0.29%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |11 (0.50%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |4 (0.18%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 3 (0.09%) || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |3 (0.14%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 3 (0.13%) || 14 (0.68%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |60 (2.73%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 1 (0.03%) || 7 (0.24%) || 14 (0.61%) || 30 (1.45%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |53 (2.41%)

| Total

| 3,494 (100.00%) || 2,899 (100.00%) || 2,283 (100.00%) || 2,071 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |2,195 (100.00%)

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 2,124 people and 935 households residing in the county. There were 1,399 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 92.3% White (88.5% NH White), 1.9% African American, 1.1% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.1% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,195 people, 965 households, and 597 families residing in the county. The population density was .

Population by decade

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Places of interest

Two petroglyphs are displayed at Writing Rock State Historical Site in Writing Rock Township.

Communities

Cities

Ambrose
Crosby (county seat)
Fortuna
Noonan

Unincorporated communities

Alkabo
Colgan
Juno
Kermit
Paulson
Stady

References

External links

Divide County – official website
Stories and histories of Divide County (1964) from the Digital Horizons website
Divide County map, North Dakota DOT