Stark County, North Dakota

History

The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on February 10, 1879, taking area from now-extinct Howard and Williams counties and some previously unincorporated territory. It was named for George Stark, a vice president of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The county organization was not completed at that time, but the new county was not attached to another county for administrative and judicial purposes. The county lost a portion of its area when Hettinger County was created on March 9, 1883. On May 25, 1883, the Stark County organization was affected.

The county boundaries were altered in February and in March 1887. The county was slightly enlarged on January 18, 1908, by a small strip of land (due to a redefinition of county boundary lines), giving Stark County its present boundary lines.

Geography

The south branch of the Heart River flows through the central part of Stark County, discharging into Patterson Lake at Dickinson, then flowing east-southeasterly into adjacent Morton County. The county terrain consists of semi-arid rolling hills, mostly devoted to agriculture. The terrain slopes to the east, with its highest point near its SW corner, at 2,831 ft ASL.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1340.328 sqmi, of which 1334.913 sqmi is land and 5.415 sqmi (0.40%) is water. It is the 21st largest county in North Dakota by total area.

The southwestern counties of North Dakota (Adams, Billings, Bowman, Golden Valley, Grant, Hettinger, Slope, Stark) observe Mountain Time. The counties of McKenzie, Dunn, and Sioux counties are split.

Major highways

Transit

• Dickinson Public Transit
• Jefferson Lines
• West River Transit

Adjacent counties

• Dunn County – north/Central Time in the north part of the county
• Mercer County – northeast/Central Time
• Morton County – east/Central Time
• Grant County – southeast/Central Time
• Hettinger County – south
• Slope County – southwest
• Billings County – west

Lakes

Source:

• Abbey Lake
• Patterson Lake

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Stark County was $275,908.

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 13,217 estimated households in Stark County with an average of 2.44 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $80,744. Approximately 9.6% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Stark County has an estimated 68.2% employment rate, with 27.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 91.2% 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 (92.2%), Spanish (3.7%), Indo-European (1.8%), Asian and Pacific Islander (1.1%), and Other (1.2%).

The median age in the county was 34.5 years.

Stark 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.

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 33,767 people and 13,217 households residing in the county. There were 15,645 housing units at an average density of 11.72 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 91.2% White (85.0% NH White), 2.6% African American, 2.2% Native American, 1.6% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 7.5% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 33,646 people, 13,561 households, and 8,394 families in the county. The population density was 25.2 PD/sqmi. There were 15,381 housing units at an average density of 11.52 /sqmi.

Of the residents, 25.8% were under the age of 18 and 13.1% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 34.1 years. For every 100 females there were 107.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 107.5 males.

The racial makeup of the county was 86.0% White, 3.1% Black or African American, 1.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% Asian, 2.8% from some other race, and 5.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 6.8% of the population.

There were 13,561 households in the county, of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 20.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 15,381 housing units, of which 11.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 61.7% were owner-occupied and 38.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 15.5%.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 24,199 people, 10,085 households, and 6,167 families in the county. The population density was 18.1 PD/sqmi. There were 10,735 housing units at an average density of 8.04 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 95.15% White, 0.81% African American, 0.99% Native American, 1.21% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.52% from some other races and 1.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.88% of the population.

In terms of ancestry, 59.0% were German, 14.7% were Norwegian, 7.7% were Russian, 7.7% were Irish, 7.3% were Czech, 5.4% were English, and 3.5% were American.

There were 10,085 households, 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.8% were non-families, and 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age was 38.3 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $49,536 and the median income for a family was $62,560. Males had a median income of $42,338 versus $26,451 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,282. About 5.9% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.9% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

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TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Communities

Cities

• Belfield
• Dickinson (county seat)
• Gladstone
• Richardton
• South Heart
• Taylor

Unincorporated communities

Source:

• Antelope
• Daglum
• Lefor
• Schefield
• Zenith

Unorganized Territories

There are no townships in Stark County, but the United States Census Bureau divides the county into four unorganized territories:

• Dickinson North, the northern part of the county outside Dickinson, had a population of 3,326 at the 2020 Census.
• Dickinson South, the southern part of the county, had a population of 577 at the 2020 Census.
• East Stark, the eastern part of the county outside Gladstone, Taylor, and Richardton, had a population of 849 at the 2020 Census.
• West Stark, the western part of the county outside Belfield and South Heart, had a population of 632 at the 2020 Census.

Politics

Stark County voters have tended to vote Republican for decades. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024). Despite its rapid population growth due to a massive oil boom, Stark County has swung right faster than almost any county, with oil-friendly Republican candidate Donald Trump collapsing Democratic support in 2016 by almost 10% and increasing Republican margins to 79%, the highest since Eisenhower in 1952. While Joe Biden managed to stop a three-election slide in percentage in 2020, Trump further increased his percentage to 80%, the highest since 1920.

References

References

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21. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Stark County, North Dakota". [[United States Census Bureau]].
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