Cass County, North Dakota

Cass County was defined by action of the Dakota Territory legislature on January 4, 1873, and its organization was affected on October 27 of that year. It was named for railroad executive George Washington Cass (1810–1888). Its boundaries were altered in 1875, and in 1961. ==Geography==

Cass County lies on the east side of North Dakota. Its east boundary line abuts the west boundary line of the state of Minnesota across the river. The Red River flows northward along the county's east boundary, on its way to Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay. The county's terrain consists of low rolling hills, devoted to agriculture except around developed areas. Its terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point on the southwestern corner at ASL. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.16%) is water. It is the 10th-county in North Dakota by total area. Major highways • Interstate 29 • Interstate 94 • U.S. Highway 10 • U.S. Highway 52 • U.S. Highway 81 • North Dakota Highway 10 • North Dakota Highway 18 • North Dakota Highway 38 • North Dakota Highway 46 • North Dakota Highway 294 Transit • Amtrak Empire Builder (Fargo station) • Jefferson Lines • MATBUS Adjacent counties • Traill County - north • Norman County, Minnesota - northeast • Clay County, Minnesota - east • Richland County - southeast • Ransom County - southwest • Barnes County - west • Steele County - northwest Lakes Cass County has the following lakes: • Brewer Lake • Lake Bertha ==Demographics==

As of the third quarter of 2025, the median home value in Cass County was $315,841. As of the 2024 American Community Survey, there are 90,427 estimated households in Cass County with an average of 2.15 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $76,056. Approximately 12.4% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Cass County has an estimated 71.9% employment rate, with 42.5% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 95.0% holding a high school diploma. The population density was . There were 85,397 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 82.00% White, 7.03% African American, 1.42% Native American, 3.29% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.08% from some other races and 5.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.35% of the population. There were 78,672 households in the county, of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 26.3% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 35.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Of the residents, 22.5% were under the age of 18 and 12.5% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 33.4 years. For every 100 females there were 102.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 101.4 males. There were 85,397 housing units, 7.9% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 51.2% were owner-occupied and 48.8% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.0%. 2010 census As of the 2010 census, there were 149,778 people, 63,899 households, and 35,215 families in the county. The population density was . There were 67,938 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.67% White, 2.29% African American, 1.22% Native American, 2.36% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.53% from some other races and 1.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.01% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 45.4% were German, 35.8% were Norwegian, 9.2% were Irish, 6.3% were Swedish, and 1.7% were American. There were 63,899 households, 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 44.9% were non-families, and 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 31.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $47,600 and the median income for a family was $68,858. Males had a median income of $42,557 versus $31,916 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,184. About 5.8% of families and 12.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.0% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over. Population by decade Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.55,0.0,0.0) id:darkblue value:rgb(0.0,0.0,0.8) ImageSize = width:800 height:400 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:201800 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:25225 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:12613 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1880 text:1880 bar:1890 text:1890 bar:1900 text:1900 bar:1910 text:1910 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1980 text:1980 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2025 text:present PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1880 from: 0 till:8998 bar:1890 from: 0 till:19613 bar:1900 from: 0 till:28625 bar:1910 from: 0 till:33935 bar:1920 from: 0 till:41477 bar:1930 from: 0 till:48735 bar:1940 from: 0 till:52849 bar:1950 from: 0 till:58877 bar:1960 from: 0 till:66947 bar:1970 from: 0 till:73653 bar:1980 from: 0 till:88247 bar:1990 from: 0 till:102874 bar:2000 from: 0 till:123138 bar:2010 from: 0 till:149778 bar:2020 from: 0 till:184525 bar:2025 from: 0 till:201794 color:darkblue PlotData= bar:1880 at:8998 fontsize:M text: 8,998 shift:(-17,7) bar:1890 at:19613 fontsize:M text: 19,613 shift:(-17,7) bar:1900 at:28625 fontsize:M text: 28,625 shift:(-17,7) bar:1910 at:33935 fontsize:M text: 33,935 shift:(-17,7) bar:1920 at:41477 fontsize:M text: 41,477 shift:(-17,7) bar:1930 at:48735 fontsize:M text: 48,735 shift:(-17,7) bar:1940 at:52849 fontsize:M text: 52,849 shift:(-17,7) bar:1950 at:58877 fontsize:M text: 58,877 shift:(-17,7) bar:1960 at:66947 fontsize:M text: 66,947 shift:(-17,7) bar:1970 at:73653 fontsize:M text: 73,653 shift:(-17,7) bar:1980 at:88247 fontsize:M text: 88,247 shift:(-17,7) bar:1990 at:102874 fontsize:M text: 102,874 shift:(-17,7) bar:2000 at:123138 fontsize:M text: 123,138 shift:(-17,7) bar:2010 at:149778 fontsize:M text: 149,778 shift:(-17,7) bar:2020 at:184525 fontsize:M text: 184,525 shift:(-17,7) bar:2025 at:200945 fontsize:M text: 201,794 shift:(-17,7) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau ==Government==

County Commissioners Cass County is governed by a board of commissioners elected to four-year terms. Other elected officials include the sheriff and state's attorney. Appointed officials include administrator, extension agent, director of tax equalization, finance auditor, highway engineer, human services officer, information technology coordinator, recorder, veterans service officer, and weed control officer. The current Sheriff is Jesse F. Jahner. Jahner has served as Sheriff of Cass County since January 2, 2019. The voters of Cass County have historically tended to vote Republican. As recently as the 2004 presidential election, George W. Bush carried Cass County with nearly 60 percent of the vote. However, in recent elections, the county has become more politically diverse and competitive, particularly in Fargo. In 2008, Democratic candidate Barack Obama won the majority of votes in Cass County, with a voting percentage very close to the percentage Obama received in the entire nation, while John McCain won the majority of votes in North Dakota. Mitt Romney's winning margin in 2012 over Obama in Cass County was 49.9% to 47%, while Donald Trump received 49.3% of votes in 2016 (52.69% in 2024), compared to 38.8% for Hillary Clinton and 11.9% for third-party candidates. In 2018, Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp achieved a 14-point lead in Eastern North Dakota, although the state as a whole soundly elected Republican Kevin Cramer. In the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, Fargo falls into 9 districts: 10th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 27th, 41st and 44th-46th. In the House, it's represented by 7 Democrats and 11 Republicans, in Senate by 4 Democrats and 5 Republicans. ==Communities==

Cities • Alice • Amenia • Argusville • Arthur • Ayr • Briarwood • Buffalo • Casselton • Davenport • Enderlin • Fargo (county seat) • Frontier • Gardner • Grandin • Harwood • Horace • Hunter • Kindred • Leonard • Mapleton • North River • Oxbow • Page • Prairie Rose • Reile's Acres • Tower City • West Fargo Census-designated places • Brooktree Park • Embden • Erie • Wheatland Unincorporated communities • Absaraka • Chaffee • Durbin • Everest • Hickson • Lynchburg • Prosper • Wild Rice Townships • Addison • Amenia • Arthur • Ayr • Barnes • Bell • Berlin • Buffalo • Casselton • Clifton • Cornell • Davenport • Dows • Durbin • Eldred • Empire • Erie • Everest • Fargo • Gardner • Gill • Gunkel • Harmony • Harwood • Highland • Hill • Howes • Hunter • Kinyon • Lake • Leonard • Maple River • Mapleton • Noble • Normanna • Page • Pleasant • Pontiac • Raymond • Reed • Rich • Rochester • Rush River • Stanley • Tower • Walburg • Warren • Watson • Wheatland • Wiser ==Education==

School districts include: K-12: • Central Cass Public School, District 17, Casselton • Enderlin Area Public School, District 24, Enderlin • Fargo Public Schools, District 1, Fargo • Hope-Page Public Schools, District 85, Page • Kindred Public School, District 2, Kindred • Northern Cass Public School, District 97, Hunter • Maple Valley Public School, District 4, Tower City • May-Port CG Public School, District 14, Mayville • West Fargo Public Schools, District 6, West Fargo Elementary: • Mapleton Public School, District 7, Mapleton ==See also==