# Cass County, North Dakota

Cass County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 184,525. Cass County is the most populous county in North Dakota, accounting for nearly a quarter of the state's population. The county seat is Fargo, the state's most populous city. The county is named for George Washington Cass, president of the Northern Pacific Railway from 1872 to 1875. It is the only Cass County in the United States that is not named after Lewis Cass.
Cass County is part of the Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

## History

Cass County was defined by action of the Dakota Territory legislature on January 4, 1873, and its organization was effected 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 1,194 ft (364 m) ASL. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,767.811 square miles (4,578.61 km$^2$), of which 1,764.935 square miles (4,571.16 km$^2$) is land and 2.876 square miles (7.45 km$^2$) (0.2%) is water.

### 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 first quarter of 2024, the median home value in Cass County was $309,530, an increase of 2.7% from the prior year.
As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 84,603 estimated households in Cass County with an average of 2.24 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $73,742. Approximately 9.9% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Cass County has an estimated 75.2% employment rate, with 43.4% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 96.4% holding a high school diploma.
The median age in the county was 32.6 years.
Cass County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
| Race / ethnicity (NH = non-Hispanic) | Pop. 1980 | Pop. 1990 | Pop. 2000 | Pop. 2010 | Pop. 2020 |
| White alone (NH) | 86,522 (98.05%) | 99,986 (97.19%) | 116,263 (94.42%) | 135,530 (90.49%) | 149,442 (80.99%) |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 141 (0.16%) | 274 (0.27%) | 978 (0.79%) | 3,372 (2.25%) | 12,761 (6.92%) |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 501 (0.57%) | 918 (0.89%) | 1,277 (1.04%) | 1,681 (1.12%) | 2,367 (1.28%) |
| Asian alone (NH) | 392 (0.44%) | 973 (0.95%) | 1,543 (1.25%) | 3,524 (2.35%) | 6,034 (3.27%) |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | — | — | 42 (0.03%) | 49 (0.03%) | 79 (0.04%) |
| Other race alone (NH) | 176 (0.20%) | 23 (0.02%) | 96 (0.08%) | 140 (0.09%) | 459 (0.25%) |
| Mixed race or multiracial (NH) | — | — | 1,421 (1.15%) | 2,467 (1.65%) | 7,201 (3.90%) |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 515 (0.58%) | 700 (0.68%) | 1,518 (1.23%) | 3,015 (2.01%) | 6,182 (3.35%) |
| Total | 88,247 (100.00%) | 102,874 (100.00%) | 123,138 (100.00%) | 149,778 (100.00%) | 184,525 (100.00%) |

### 2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 184,525 people, 78,672 households, and 42,849 families residing in the county. The population density was 104.6 inhabitants per square mile (40.4/km$^2$). There were 85,397 housing units at an average density of 48.4 inhabitants per square mile (18.7/km$^2$). 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. 22.1% of residents were under the age of 18, 6.2% were under 5 years of age, and 13.2% were 65 and older.

### 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 84.9 inhabitants per square mile (32.8/km$^2$). There were 67,938 housing units at an average density of 38.5 inhabitants per square mile (14.9/km$^2$). 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.
Of the 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
## Government

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.
| District | Commissioner | In office since | Current term expires in |
| 1st | Chad Peterson (Chair) | 2012 | 2020 |
| 2nd | Rick Steen (vice chair) | 2014 | 2022 |
| 3rd | Ken Pawluk | 2019 | 2020 |
| 4th | Duane Breitling | 2018 | 2022 |
| 5th | Mary Scherling | 2012 | 2020 |
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, 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.
United States presidential election results for Cass County, North Dakota :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| 2024 | 47,873 | 52.69% | 40,304 | 44.36% | 2,674 | 2.94% |
| 2020 | 42,619 | 49.53% | 40,311 | 46.84% | 3,123 | 3.63% |
| 2016 | 39,816 | 49.26% | 31,361 | 38.80% | 9,644 | 11.93% |
| 2012 | 36,855 | 49.90% | 34,712 | 47.00% | 2,288 | 3.10% |
| 2008 | 32,566 | 45.34% | 37,622 | 52.37% | 1,646 | 2.29% |
| 2004 | 39,619 | 59.39% | 26,010 | 38.99% | 1,082 | 1.62% |
| 2000 | 33,536 | 56.85% | 21,451 | 36.36% | 4,008 | 6.79% |
| 1996 | 24,238 | 48.02% | 21,693 | 42.98% | 4,540 | 9.00% |
| 1992 | 25,312 | 47.65% | 18,077 | 34.03% | 9,727 | 18.31% |
| 1988 | 26,699 | 54.34% | 22,107 | 44.99% | 331 | 0.67% |
| 1984 | 29,221 | 61.35% | 18,054 | 37.91% | 354 | 0.74% |
| 1980 | 23,886 | 54.76% | 13,562 | 31.09% | 6,172 | 14.15% |
| 1976 | 22,583 | 54.53% | 17,879 | 43.17% | 949 | 2.29% |
| 1972 | 21,770 | 59.96% | 14,073 | 38.76% | 463 | 1.28% |
| 1968 | 15,240 | 55.88% | 10,819 | 39.67% | 1,212 | 4.44% |
| 1964 | 12,972 | 45.25% | 15,674 | 54.67% | 23 | 0.08% |
| 1960 | 17,498 | 58.89% | 12,213 | 41.11% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 16,932 | 63.25% | 9,821 | 36.69% | 17 | 0.06% |
| 1952 | 18,094 | 66.17% | 9,193 | 33.62% | 57 | 0.21% |
| 1948 | 11,430 | 52.34% | 9,937 | 45.51% | 469 | 2.15% |
| 1944 | 10,661 | 50.37% | 10,390 | 49.09% | 116 | 0.55% |
| 1940 | 12,567 | 51.11% | 11,911 | 48.45% | 108 | 0.44% |
| 1936 | 7,632 | 35.22% | 12,400 | 57.22% | 1,638 | 7.56% |
| 1932 | 8,937 | 43.82% | 11,094 | 54.40% | 363 | 1.78% |
| 1928 | 12,480 | 66.18% | 6,315 | 33.49% | 63 | 0.33% |
| 1924 | 9,906 | 65.86% | 1,352 | 8.99% | 3,783 | 25.15% |
| 1920 | 10,735 | 77.02% | 2,817 | 20.21% | 386 | 2.77% |
| 1916 | 3,093 | 46.68% | 3,303 | 49.85% | 230 | 3.47% |
| 1912 | 1,316 | 26.22% | 1,814 | 36.14% | 1,889 | 37.64% |
| 1908 | 3,681 | 62.53% | 2,000 | 33.97% | 206 | 3.50% |
| 1904 | 3,788 | 80.41% | 609 | 12.93% | 314 | 6.67% |
| 1900 | 3,485 | 65.68% | 1,636 | 30.83% | 185 | 3.49% |
| 1896 | 3,050 | 58.80% | 2,089 | 40.27% | 48 | 0.93% |
| 1892 | 2,022 | 53.98% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,724 | 46.02% |

## 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
* Wild Rice
* Prosper

### 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
* Enderlin Area Public School District 24
* Fargo Public Schools
* Hope-Page Public Schools
* Kindred Public School District 2
* Maple Valley Public School District
* May-Port CG Public School District 14
* Northern Cass Public School District 97
* West Fargo Public Schools
Elementary:
* Mapleton Public School District 7
Former districts:
* Page Public School District 80 - Consolidated with Hope district in 2020