Rolette County, North Dakota

The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on January 4, 1873, with territory partitioned from Buffalo County. It was not organized at that date, and was not attached to another county for judicial or administrative purposes. It was named for Joseph Rolette Jr., a fur trader and political figure from Pembina. The county government was effected on October 14, 1884, with Dunseith as the county seat. In 1885 the county seat was assigned to Saint John, and in 1889 it was assigned to Rolla. The county boundaries were adjusted in 1883 and in 1887. It has retained its present boundary configuration since 1887. The International Peace Garden is located in the northwest corner of the county along the Canada–United States border with Manitoba. ==Geography==

Rolette County lies on the northern border of North Dakota with Canada. Gimby Creek and Wakopa Creek flow into the county from Canada. The terrain consists of dry rolling hills in the south, and more verdant low hills in the north and northwest, dotted with lakes and ponds. Part of the Turtle Mountain plateau lies in the northwestern part of the county. The terrain slopes to the south and east; its highest point is its northwest corner, at ASL. The Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation is in the northeast section of Rolette County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.88%) is water. It is the 44th largest county in North Dakota by total area. Major highways • U.S. Highway 281 • North Dakota Highway 3 • North Dakota Highway 5 • North Dakota Highway 30 • North Dakota Highway 43 • North Dakota Highway 66 Adjacent counties and rural municipalities • Municipality of Boissevain-Morton, Manitoba – northwest • Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain, Manitoba – northeast • Towner County – east • Pierce County – south • Bottineau County – west Protected areas • Lords Lake National Wildlife Refuge (part) • Rabb Lake National Wildlife Refuge • School Section Lake National Wildlife Refuge • Willow Lake National Wildlife Refuge Lakes • Belcourt Lake • Bigham Lake • Bymes Lake • Carpenters Lake • Coon Lake • Gatten Lake • Girl Lake • Gordon Lake • Hartley Lake (part) • Horseshoe Lake • Island Lake • Lagerquist Lake • Lake Upsilon • Little Gurr Lake • Long Lake • Lords Lake (part) • Mill Lake • Mill Lake • Rabb Lake • School Section Lake • Schutte Lake • South Messier Lake (part) • Ducker Lake • Twin Lake • Twin Lakes (part) • Willow Lake ==Demographics==

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Rolette County was $98,539. As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 3,686 estimated households in Rolette County with an average of 3.23 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $57,355. Approximately 23.5% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Rolette County has an estimated 53.1% employment rate, with 16.6% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 83.9% 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 (93.0%), Spanish (0.9%), Indo-European (0.9%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.6%), and Other (4.5%). Rolette County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition 2024 estimate As of the 2024 estimate, there were 11,692 people and 3,686 households residing in the county. There were 4,596 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 18.5% White (18.2% NH White), 0.5% African American, '''''', 0.3% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.3% of the population. 2020 census As of the 2020 census, there were 12,187 people, 4,114 households, and 2,857 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 4,581 housing units at an average density of . Of the residents, 33.0% were under the age of 18 and 14.2% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 33.4 years. For every 100 females there were 99.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.6 males. There were 4,114 households in the county, of which 40.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 31.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The most reported ancestries were: • Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (56.3%) • Chippewa (15.1%) • German (7.1%) • Norwegian (5.6%) • French (3.2%) • English (2.7%) • Irish (2.4%) • Finnish (1%) • Mexican (1%) 2010 census As of the 2010 census, there were 13,937 people, 4,783 households, and 3,413 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 5,372 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 20.27% White, 0.15% African American, ' Native American (U.S. Census)|', 0.11% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.11% from some other races and 2.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 0.95% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 48.5% were French Canadian, 7.0% were German, 6.8% were Norwegian, and 0.3% were American. There were 4,783 households, 44.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.1% were married couples living together, 23.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.6% were non-families, and 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.39. The median age was 30.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $28,265 and the median income for a family was $35,523. Males had a median income of $35,595 versus $27,459 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,632. About 25.9% of families and 31.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.5% of those under age 18 and 24.8% 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) ImageSize = width:700 height:350 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:13944 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:6972 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1743 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= 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:1890 from: 0 till:2427 bar:1900 from: 0 till:7995 bar:1910 from: 0 till:9558 bar:1920 from: 0 till:10061 bar:1930 from: 0 till:10760 bar:1940 from: 0 till:12583 bar:1950 from: 0 till:11102 bar:1960 from: 0 till:10641 bar:1970 from: 0 till:11549 bar:1980 from: 0 till:12177 bar:1990 from: 0 till:12772 bar:2000 from: 0 till:13674 bar:2010 from: 0 till:13937 bar:2020 from: 0 till:12187 bar:2025 from: 0 till:11688 color:darkblue PlotData= bar:1890 at:2427 fontsize:M text:2,427 shift:(-16,6) bar:1900 at:7995 fontsize:M text:7,995 shift:(-16,6) bar:1910 at:9558 fontsize:M text:9,558 shift:(-16,6) bar:1920 at:10061 fontsize:M text:10,061 shift:(-16,6) bar:1930 at:10760 fontsize:M text:10,760 shift:(-16,6) bar:1940 at:12583 fontsize:M text:12,583 shift:(-16,6) bar:1950 at:11102 fontsize:M text:11,102 shift:(-16,6) bar:1960 at:10641 fontsize:M text:10,641 shift:(-16,6) bar:1970 at:11549 fontsize:M text:11,549 shift:(-16,6) bar:1980 at:12177 fontsize:M text:12,177 shift:(-16,6) bar:1990 at:12772 fontsize:M text:12,772 shift:(-16,6) bar:2000 at:13674 fontsize:M text:13,674 shift:(-16,6) bar:2010 at:13937 fontsize:M text:13,937 shift:(-16,6) bar:2020 at:12187 fontsize:M text:12,187 shift:(-16,6) bar:2025 at:11688 fontsize:M text:11,688 shift:(-16,6) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau ==Communities==

Cities • Dunseith • Mylo • Rolla (county seat) • Rolette • St. John Census-designated places • Belcourt • East Dunseith • Green Acres • Shell Valley Unincorporated communities • Ackworth • Agate • Alcide • Boydton • Carpenter • Fonda • Gronna • Kelvin • McCumber • Nanson • San Haven • Thorne Townships • Kohlmeier • Shell Valley • South Valley Unorganized territories • East Rolette • North Rolette • South Rolette • Turtle Valley ==Politics==

Due to its Native American majority population, Rolette County voters are historically Democratic, and it is one of the most consistently Democratic counties in North Dakota. Since 1928 the only Republican to carry the county was Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. It was the only county in the state to support George McGovern in 1972 and is additionally the only North Dakota county to have supported Jimmy Carter in 1980. In each of the five presidential elections from 1996 to 2012, the Democratic candidate received over 60% of the vote, with Barack Obama winning 75.1% in 2008 and 74.0% in 2012. In 2016, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton received 55.9% of the county's votes, one of the two North Dakota counties that she carried. ==Education==

School districts include: • Belcourt Public School District 7 (as the Turtle Mountain Community School, in cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)) • Bottineau Public School District 1 • Dunseith Public School District 1 • Mount Pleasant Public School District 4 • North Star School District 10 • Rolette Public School District 29 • Rugby Public School District 5 • St. John Public School District 3 Former districts: • Wolford Public School District 1 ==See also==