Pierce County, North Dakota

Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,990, and was estimated to be 3,838 in 2025.

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 affected 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.

The geographical center of North America is in Pierce County, approximately west of Balta. Rugby has a monument for the center at the intersection of US 2 and ND 3.

thumb|Outline map of Pierce County, North Dakota, 1910

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. The terrain generally slopes to the north and east, with its highest point a hill near the SW county corner, at ASL.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (5.93%) is water. It is the 37th largest county in North Dakota by total area.

Major highways

25px U.S. Highway 2
25px U.S. Highway 52
25px North Dakota Highway 3
25px North Dakota Highway 17
25px North Dakota Highway 19
25px North Dakota Highway 60

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

Source:

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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 1,840 estimated households in Pierce County with an average of 2.07 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $63,214. Approximately 11.0% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Pierce County has an estimated 59.9% employment rate, with 27.9% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 93.9% 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 (97.4%), Spanish (0.3%), Indo-European (1.8%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.5%), and Other (0.0%).

The median age in the county was 44.3 years.

Pierce 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)

| 6,079 (98.59%) || 5,011 (99.19%) || 4,584 (98.05%) || 4,084 (93.73%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |3,611 (90.50%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 0 (0.00%) || 2 (0.04%) || 4 (0.09%) || 19 (0.44%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |36 (0.90%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 20 (0.32%) || 23 (0.46%) || 32 (0.68%) || 169 (3.88%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |146 (3.66%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 28 (0.45%) || 15 (0.30%) || 12 (0.26%) || 3 (0.07%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |17 (0.43%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 0 (0.00%) || 1 (0.02%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |5 (0.13%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 14 (0.23%) || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || 4 (0.09%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |10 (0.25%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 15 (0.32%) || 33 (0.76%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |93 (2.33%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 25 (0.41%) || 1 (0.02%) || 28 (0.60%) || 44 (1.01%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |72 (1.80%)

| Total

| 6,166 (100.00%) || 5,052 (100.00%) || 4,675 (100.00%) || 4,357 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |3,990 (100.00%)

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 3,853 people and 1,840 households residing in the county. There were 2,049 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 90.9% White (89.2% NH White), 0.8% African American, 5.1% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.1% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 3,990 people, 1,719 households, and 1,041 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 2,040 housing units at an average density of .

Of the residents, 22.4% were under the age of 18 and 24.7% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 46.3 years. For every 100 females there were 102.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 102.6 males.

There were 1,719 households in the county, of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 23.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.|source2=

Education

School districts include:

Anamoose Public School District 14
Bottineau Public School District 1
Harvey Public School District 38
Leeds Public School District 6
Maddock Public School District 9
North Star School District 10
Rugby Public School District 5
Towner-Granville-Upham Public School District 60

Former districts:

Wolford Public School District 1

References

External links

Pierce County – official website
A history of Pierce County (1936) from the Digital Horizons website
Fifty years in Pierce county (1943) from the Digital Horizons website
Pierce County maps, Sheet 1 (northern) and Sheet 2 (southern), North Dakota DOT