East Grand Forks, Minnesota

East Grand Forks (also known as EGF) is a city in Polk County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,176 at the 2020 census, making it Polk County's largest community. It is in the Red River Valley region along the eastern bank of the Red River of the North, directly across from Grand Forks, North Dakota. The cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks form the center of the Grand Forks, ND–MN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is often called Greater Grand Forks. The statistical area's population was 104,362 at the 2020 census.

History

A post office called East Grand Forks has been in operation since 1883. The city was named for its location east of Grand Forks, North Dakota. East Grand Forks was incorporated on April 13, 1887.

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census 2020 Census

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 (94.4%), Spanish (2.0%), Indo-European (0.5%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.2%), and Other (2.9%).

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable"

|+<big>East Grand Forks, Minnesota – racial and ethnic composition</big>

! Race / ethnicity (NH = non-Hispanic)

! Pop. 1990

! Pop. 2000

! Pop. 2010

! % 1990

! % 2000

! % 2010

| White alone (NH)

| 7,813

| 6,658

| 7,571

| style='background: #ffffe6; |7,365

| 90.24%

| 88.76%

| 88.02%

| style='background: #ffffe6; |80.26%

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 23

| 30

| 103

| style='background: #ffffe6; |677

| 0.27%

| 0.40%

| 1.20%

| style='background: #ffffe6; |7.38%

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 169

| 112

| 141

| style='background: #ffffe6; |122

| 1.95%

| 1.49%

| 1.64%

| style='background: #ffffe6; |1.33%

| Asian alone (NH)

| 31

| 25

| 44

| style='background: #ffffe6; |53

| 0.36%

| 0.33%

| 0.51%

| style='background: #ffffe6; |0.58%

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| —

| 1

| style='background: #ffffe6; |1

| —

| 0.01%

| style='background: #ffffe6; |0.01%

| Other race alone (NH)

| 9

| 0

| 4

| style='background: #ffffe6; |19

| 0.10%

| 0.00%

| 0.05%

| style='background: #ffffe6; |0.21%

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| —

| 110

| 174

| style='background: #ffffe6; |371

| —

| 1.47%

| 2.02%

| style='background: #ffffe6; |4.04%

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 613

| 565

| 563

| style='background: #ffffe6; |568

| 7.08%

| 7.53%

| 6.55%

| style='background: #ffffe6; |6.19%

|Total

|8,658

|7,501

|8,601

|style='background: #ffffe6; |9,176

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, East Grand Forks had a population of 9,176. There were 3,599 households and 2,289 families. The population density was . There were 3,831 housing units at an average density of .

The median age was 35.3 years. 27.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.9 males age 18 and over.

There were 3,599 households in East Grand Forks, of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.5% were married-couple households, 18.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. the city's largest employers are:

{| class="wikitable"

! #

! Employer

! Number of employees

! Percentage

|East Grand Forks Public Schools ISD 595

|367

|14.62%

|American Crystal Sugar Company

|320

|12.74%

|R. J. Zavoral and Sons, Inc.

|151

|6.01%

|City of East Grand Forks

|95

|3.78%

|Northland Community & Technical College

|77

|3.07%

|Sacred Heart

|75

|2.99%

|Northern Valley

|70

|2.79%

|Sanford Health

|59

|2.35%

|Vallet Markets

|52

|2.07%

|10

|Mayo Manufacturing, Inc.

|35

|1.39%

|Total

|—

|1,301

|51.83%

Education

K–12

The East Grand Forks School District enrolls 1,758 students and operates two elementary schools (South Point Elementary and New Heights Elementary), Central Middle School, and East Grand Forks Senior High School. There are also two private Christian schools. Sacred Heart School is a Roman Catholic school with students from across the region, including North Dakota and Minnesota. Riverside Christian School is a nondenominational Christian elementary, middle, and high school.

1,942 students in 2023-2024
1,811 students in February 2023

Higher education

East Grand Forks's only higher educational institution is Northland Community & Technical College, Northland for short, which has another campus in Thief River Falls. The history of Northland Community & Technical College's East Grand Forks campus dates to December 1971, when the local school district was designated for an Area Vocational Technical Institute (AVTI). The first classes of the East Grand Forks AVTI were offered in 1973 in rented facilities. The present facility opened in 1975. Northland-EGF grew with expansion and partnerships.

The college's name has changed several times. From 1992 to 2003 it was consolidated as Northwest Technical College. In July 2003, Northwest Technical College's East Grand Forks campus merged with Thief River Falls's Northland Community & Technical College to become a fully comprehensive college. The two-year school's enrollment has grown steadily since.

Across the Red River in Grand Forks is the University of North Dakota.

Infrastructure

East Grand Forks is served by three Cities Area Transit bus routes that connect the city to Grand Forks.

U.S. Route 2, U.S. 2 Business Route, and Minnesota Highway 220 are three of the main roadways in the city. Other nearby routes in the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks area include Interstate Highway 29, to the west of Grand Fork's downtown, and U.S. Highway 81.

East Grand Forks is served by Grand Forks International Airport, located west of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Commercial flights are operated by Allegiant and Delta Air Lines.

Commerce and recreation

East Grand Forks has a downtown shopping district that includes a small shopping center, a 12-screen movie theater, a Cabela's sporting goods store, and several local restaurants.

After the 1997 flood, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommended against replacing residential or business development in the floodplain. The land on both sides of the river was developed as a park and state recreation area called the Red River State Recreation Area. It is part of the Greater Grand Forks Greenway. It provides a place for residents to enjoy recreation near the river, as well as protecting the cities. The trees and greenery in this zone can help absorb future seasonal flooding. In the northern part of town is a public golf course, Valley Golf Course.

Local events

East Grand Forks has several annual local community events, such as the Catfish Days and Frosty Bobber fishing tournaments, Heritage Days, and arts and crafts shows. EGF shares certain events with Grand Forks, such as the Potato Bowl parade and First Night, an alcohol-free New Year's celebration. Catfish Days, based on an annual summer catfishing tournament, attracts people from all over the U.S. and Canada. It is one of the region's largest fishing tournaments.

Each June, the Grand Cities Art Fest takes place in the downtowns of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. The city holds an Art & Wine Walk one Saturday each month during the summer. A farmer's market is another popular event. Local produce and craft items are for sale in the Town Square on Saturdays from late June till late September.

Media

East Grand Forks has a local weekly newspaper, The Exponent. Otherwise, the town is served by the media of Grand Forks and KROX of Crookston, Minnesota. Radio stations KZLT and KGFK broadcasting from Grand Forks are licensed to East Grand Forks.