Towner County, North Dakota

Towner County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population is 2,162, and was estimated to be 2,040 in 2025. It is south of the Canada–US border with Manitoba.

History

The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on March 8, 1883, with areas partitioned from Cavalier and Rolette counties. It was named for Oscar M. Towner (1842–1897), a businessman and member of the 15th territorial legislature. The county organization was not completed at that time, and the county was attached to Pembina County for judicial and administrative purposes. That lasted until January 24, 1884, when the county organization was effected, and its attachment to Pembina was dissolved. However, on January 26, 1889, the county was attached to Ramsey County for judicial and administrative purposes. This arrangement only lasted a few months. The boundaries of Towner County, as first formed, have not been altered to the present (as of 2019).

The county should not be confused with the city of Towner, which is located in McHenry County.

thumb|Outline map of Towner County, North Dakota, 1909

Geography

Towner County lies on the north line of North Dakota, and thus on the north line of the continental United States. Its north boundary line abuts the south boundary line of Canada. Its terrain consists of rolling hills dotted with lakes and ponds. The area is devoted to agriculture. The Laurentian Divide runs across Towner County - the northern terrain slopes to the north while the southern terrain slopes to the south, and the county as a whole slightly slopes to the east.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.59%) is water. It is the 36th largest county in North Dakota by total area.

Towner County, North Dakota Weather Data

Averages use 1901-2000

Records are from 1895–Present

{| class="wikitable"

|Avg Temp

|Min Temp

|Max Temp

|Precip

|Avg Jan

|0.92

|<nowiki>-9.39</nowiki>

|11.26

|0.59

|Hist Hi Jan

|21.80 2006

|14.20 2006

|29.50 2006

|2.10 1917

|Hist Lo Jan

|<nowiki>-16.70 1950</nowiki>

|<nowiki>-25.40 1950</nowiki>

|<nowiki>-8.00 1950</nowiki>

|0.02 1973

|Avg Feb

|6.84

|<nowiki>-3.66</nowiki>

|8.60

|0.43

|Hist Hi Feb

|24.00 1954

|17.40 1998

|33.60 1954

|2.11 1998

|Hist Lo Feb

|<nowiki>-17.60 1936</nowiki>

|<nowiki>-27.00 1936</nowiki>

|<nowiki>-8.30 1936</nowiki>

|0.03 1971

|Avg Mar

|20.54

|10.22

|30.85

|0.75

|Hist Hi Mar

|38.00 1910

|25.70 2012

|50.90 1910

|3.02 1902

|Hist Lo Mar

|2.70 1899

|<nowiki>-9.90 1899</nowiki>

|15.20 1899

|0.02 2019

|Avg Apr

|38.55

|26.88

|50.22

|1.17

|Hist Hi Apr

|48.20 1987

|34.20 2006

|64.30 1952

|4.19 1896

|Hist Lo Apr

|25.70 2013

|15.80 2013

|35.60 2013

|0.03 1952

|Avg May

|51.97

|38.54

|65.39

|2.19

|Hist Hi May

|63.40 1977

|48.50 1977

|78.40 1977

|6.37 1999

|Hist Lo May

|41.40 1907

|27.90 1907

|54.80 1907

|0.18 1907

|Avg Jun

|61.14

|48.53

|73.75

|4.05

|Hist Hi Jun

|71.70 1988

|56.20 1988

|87.20 1988

|11.08 1954

|Hist Lo Jun

|53.50 1915

|41.70 1969

|65.20 1915

|0.97 1900

|Avg Jul

|66.51

|53.30

|79.73

|2.81

|Hist Hi Jul

|76.50 1936

|59.80 1936

|93.20 1936

|8.48 1993

|Hist Lo Jul

|59.50 1992

|47.90 1915

|70.60 1992

|0.41 1985

|Avg Aug

|64.30

|50.45

|78.14

|2.48

|Hist Hi Aug

|71.50 1983

|56.50 1983

|88.30 1961

|7.57 1980

|Hist Lo Aug

|57.70 2004

|45.30 1977

|69.00 2004

|0.24 1961

|Avg Sep

|53.85

|40.58

|67.12

|1.74

|Hist Hi Sep

|63.30 2009

|49.80 2009

|78.90 1897

|6.16 1941

|Hist Lo Sep

|44.60 1965

|33.80 1965

|55.50 1965

|0.06 1938

|Avg Oct

|41.42

|29.28

|53.55

|1.10

|Hist Hi Oct

|52.50 1963

|37.90 1963

|67.00 1963

|5.16 1994

|Hist Lo Oct

|29.40 1919

|17.90 1919

|39.00 1925

|0.06 1944

|Avg Nov

|22.75

|13.48

|32.03

|0.67

|Hist Hi Nov

|37.80 2016

|28.30 2016

|47.30 2016

|2.93 2000

|Hist Lo Nov

|2.50 1896

|<nowiki>-5.60 1896</nowiki>

|10.50 1896

|0.02 1939

|Avg Dec

|7.91

|<nowiki>-1.64</nowiki>

|17.46

|0.59

|Hist Hi Dec

|22.80 1939

|14.70 1997

|32.90 1939

|1.85 1906

|Hist Lo Dec

|<nowiki>-5.40 1917</nowiki>

|<nowiki>-15.30 1917</nowiki>

|4.10 1983

|0.01 1954

|Avg 12 Mo

|36.39

|24.71

|48.07

|1.49

|Hi 12 Mo

|76.50 Jul 1936

|59.80 Jul 1936

|93.20 Jul 1936

|11.08 Jun 1954

|Lo 12 Mo

|<nowiki>-17.60 Feb 1936</nowiki>

|<nowiki>-27.00 Feb 1936</nowiki>

|<nowiki>-8.30 Feb 1936</nowiki>

|0.01 Dec 1954

Major highways

25px|link= U.S. Route 281
25px|link= North Dakota Highway 4
25px|link= North Dakota Highway 5
25px|link= North Dakota Highway 17
25px|link= North Dakota Highway 66

Adjacent counties and rural municipalities

Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain, Manitoba - northwest
Cartwright-Roblin Municipality, Manitoba - north
Municipality of Louise, Manitoba - northeast
Cavalier County - east
Ramsey County - southeast
Benson County - south
Pierce County - southwest
Rolette County - west

National protected areas

Brumba National Wildlife Refuge
Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge (part)
Rock Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Snyder Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Lakes

Source:

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 958 estimated households in Towner County with an average of 2.17 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $63,017. Approximately 9.4% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Towner County has an estimated 63.0% employment rate, with 18.9% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 89.5% 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 (97.3%), Spanish (2.2%), Indo-European (0.1%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.0%), and Other (0.4%).

The median age in the county was 50.3 years.

Towner 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)

| 4,003 (98.79%) || 3,562 (98.21%) || 2,797 (97.25%) || 2,165 (96.39%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1,984 (91.77%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 3 (0.07%) || 2 (0.06%) || 2 (0.07%) || 2 (0.09%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |2 (0.09%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 41 (1.01%) || 53 (1.46%) || 57 (1.98%) || 49 (2.18%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |71 (3.28%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 3 (0.07%) || 5 (0.14%) || 2 (0.07%) || 1 (0.04%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |10 (0.46%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1 (0.05%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || 4 (0.18%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |4 (0.19%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 13 (0.45%) || 15 (0.67%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |56 (2.59%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 2 (0.05%) || 5 (0.14%) || 5 (0.17%) || 10 (0.45%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |34 (1.57%)

| Total

| 4,052 (100.00%) || 3,627 (100.00%) || 2,876 (100.00%) || 2,246 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |2,162 (100.00%)

2024 Estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 2,051 people and 958 households residing in the county. There were 1,283 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.0% White (87.8% NH White), 0.5% African American, 5.5% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 2.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.8% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,162 people, 965 households, and 587 families residing in the county. Of the residents, 22.8% were under the age of 18 and 24.7% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 51.1 years. For every 100 females there were 105.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 104.4 males.

Of the 965 households, 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 19.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.)

Unincorporated communities

Agate
Armourdale
Arndt
Considine
Crocus
Elsberry
Maza
Newville
Olmstead
Pasha

Townships

Armourdale
Atkins
Bethel
Cando
Coolin
Crocus
Dash
Gerrard
Grainfield
Howell
Lansing
Maza
Monroe
Mount View
New City
Olson
Paulson
Picton
Rock Lake
Sidney
Smith
Sorenson
Springfield
Teddy
Twin Hill
Victor
Virginia
Zion

Politics

Education

School districts include:

Leeds Public School District 6
Mount Pleasant Public School District 4
Munich Public School District 19
North Star School District 10
Starkweather Public School District 44

Former school districts:

Bisbee-Egeland School District - Formed in 1980 with the merger of the Bisbee and Egeland districts, known as West Central School District 12 and East Central School District 12, respectively. Merged into North Star Schools in 2008.

References

External links

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