Steele County, North Dakota
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Distinguish". Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Settlement short description".Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Expression error: Unexpected < operator.Template:Category handlerScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Steele County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,798,[1] and was estimated to be 1,767 in 2024,[2] making it the fifth-least populous county in North Dakota. The county seat and the largest city is Finley.[3]
History
The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on June 2, 1883, with territories partitioned from Griggs and Traill counties. It was not organized at that time but was attached to Traill for administrative and judicial purposes. It was named for businessman Edward H. Steele, who had pushed for its creation.
On June 13, 1883, the county organization was affected and Steele County was detached from Traill County; Sherbrooke, North Dakota was chosen as the county seat. In 1897 the town of Finley was founded, and by 1919 its growth had eclipsed Sherbrooke to the point that the county seat was transferred to Finley.[4][5] The county's boundaries have been unchanged since its creation.
Geography
The Sheyenne River flows south near and into the county's west boundary line. The Goose River flows southeast through the northeastern part of the county. The terrain consists of rolling hills dotted with lakes and ponds. The area is devoted to agriculture.[6] The terrain slopes to the south and east; its highest point is near its northwestern corner, at Script error: No such module "convert". ASL.[7]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Script error: No such module "convert"., of which Script error: No such module "convert". is land and Script error: No such module "convert". (0.46%) is water.[8] It is the 50th largest county in North Dakota by total area.[9]
Major highways
- File:ND-32 (2015).svg North Dakota Highway 32
- File:ND-38 (2015).svg North Dakota Highway 38
- File:ND-200 (2015).svg North Dakota Highway 200
.svg){kind=link}
.svg){kind=link}
.svg){kind=link}
Adjacent counties
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>
- Grand Forks County - north
- Traill County - east
- Cass County - southeast
- Barnes County - southwest
- Griggs County - west
- Nelson County - northwest
Lakes
Source:[6]
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>
- Golden Lake
- Golden Rush Lake
- Lake Tobiason
- Lone Tree Lake
- North Golden Lake
- Stony Lake
- Willow Lake
Demographics
<templatestyles src="US Census population/styles.css"/>
| Census | Pop. | Template:Sronly | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 3,777 | — | |
| 1900 | 5,888 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 1910 | 7,616 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 1920 | 7,401 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 1930 | 6,972 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 1940 | 6,193 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 1950 | 5,145 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 1960 | 4,719 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 1970 | 3,749 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 1980 | 3,106 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 1990 | 2,420 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 2000 | 2,258 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 2010 | 1,975 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 2020 | 1,798 | Script error: No such module "String".% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 1,767 | [10] | Script error: No such module "String".% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[11] 1790–1960[12] 1900–1990[13] 1990–2000[14] 2010–2020[2] | |||
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Recent estimates
As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Steele County was $127,570.[15]
As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 731 estimated households in Steele County with an average of 2.37 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $80,313. Approximately 13.3% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Steele County has an estimated 59.7% employment rate, with 29.6% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 94.5% holding a high school diploma.[2]
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 (98.6%), Spanish (0.0%), Indo-European (1.4%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.0%), and Other (0.1%).
Steele County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition
<templatestyles src="Nobold/styles.css"/>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[16] | Pop. 1990[17] | Pop. 2000[18] | Pop. 2010[19] | Pop. 2020[20] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 3,094 (99.61%) |
2,411 (99.63%) |
2,220 (98.32%) |
1,916 (97.01%) |
1,721 (95.72%) |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 2 (0.06%) |
0 (0.00%) |
1 (0.04%) |
3 (0.15%) |
3 (0.17%) |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 1 (0.03%) |
2 (0.08%) |
14 (0.62%) |
23 (1.16%) |
7 (0.39%) |
| Asian alone (NH) | 6 (0.19%) |
2 (0.08%) |
1 (0.04%) |
2 (0.10%) |
0 (0.00%) |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | — | — | 0 (0.00%) |
0 (0.00%) |
0 (0.00%) |
| Other race alone (NH) | 0 (0.00%) |
0 (0.00%) |
1 (0.04%) |
1 (0.05%) |
0 (0.00%) |
| Mixed race or multiracial (NH) | — | — | 17 (0.75%) |
10 (0.51%) |
31 (1.72%) |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3 (0.10%) |
5 (0.21%) |
4 (0.18%) |
20 (1.01%) |
36 (2.00%) |
| Total | 3,106 (100.00%) |
2,420 (100.00%) |
2,258 (100.00%) |
1,975 (100.00%) |
1,798 (100.00%) |
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,798, 788 households, and 515 families residing in the county.[21] Of the residents, 21.7% were under the age of 18 and 24.4% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 48.4 years. For every 100 females there were 114.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 117.1 males.[22]
There were 788 households, of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 14.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[22]
The population density was Script error: No such module "convert".. There were 1,091 housing units at an average density of Script error: No such module "convert"..[23] Of those units, 27.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 81.9% were owner-occupied and 18.1% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 15.6%.[22]
The racial makeup of the county was 96.3% White, 0.2% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.0% Asian, 0.22% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from some other race, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.0% of the population.[24]
2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 1,975 people, 864 households, and 589 families residing in the county. The population density was Script error: No such module "convert".. There were 1,171 housing units at an average density of Script error: No such module "convert".. The racial makeup of the county was 97.57% White, 0.15% African American, 1.16% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from some other races and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.01% of the population.
In terms of ancestry, 60.0% were Norwegian, 35.2% were German, 5.4% were Irish, and 1.0% were American.
There were 864 households, 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 4.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.8% were non-families, and 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.78. The median age was 47.7 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $44,191 and the median income for a family was $54,625. Males had a median income of $36,588 versus $25,648 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,728. About 4.3% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.
Population by decade
<timeline> 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:650 height:325 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:7616 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1904 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:952 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:2024 text:present
PlotData=
color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1890 from: 0 till:3777 bar:1900 from: 0 till:5888 bar:1910 from: 0 till:7616 bar:1920 from: 0 till:7401 bar:1930 from: 0 till:6972 bar:1940 from: 0 till:6193 bar:1950 from: 0 till:5145 bar:1960 from: 0 till:4719 bar:1970 from: 0 till:3749 bar:1980 from: 0 till:3106 bar:1990 from: 0 till:2420 bar:2000 from: 0 till:2258 bar:2010 from: 0 till:1975 bar:2020 from: 0 till:1798 bar:2024 from: 0 till:1788 color:darkblue
PlotData=
bar:1890 at:3777 fontsize:M text:3,777 shift:(-16,6) bar:1900 at:5888 fontsize:M text:5,888 shift:(-16,6) bar:1910 at:7616 fontsize:M text:7,616 shift:(-16,6) bar:1920 at:7401 fontsize:M text:7,401 shift:(-16,6) bar:1930 at:6972 fontsize:M text:6,972 shift:(-16,6) bar:1940 at:6193 fontsize:M text:6,193 shift:(-16,6) bar:1950 at:5145 fontsize:M text:5,145 shift:(-16,6) bar:1960 at:4719 fontsize:M text:4,719 shift:(-16,6) bar:1970 at:3749 fontsize:M text:3,749 shift:(-16,6) bar:1980 at:3106 fontsize:M text:3,106 shift:(-16,6) bar:1990 at:2420 fontsize:M text:2,420 shift:(-16,6) bar:2000 at:2258 fontsize:M text:2,258 shift:(-16,6) bar:2010 at:1975 fontsize:M text:1,975 shift:(-16,6) bar:2020 at:1798 fontsize:M text:1,798 shift:(-16,6) bar:2024 at:1767 fontsize:M text:1,767 shift:(-16,6)
TextData=
fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau
</timeline>
Communities
Cities
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>
Unincorporated communities
Source:[6]
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>
- Blabon
- Colgate
- Pickert
- Sherbrooke[25] (original county seat; now mostly uninhabited)
Townships
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>
| Range 57 | Range 56 | Range 55 | Range 54 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Township 148 | Sharon | Westfield | Beaver Creek | Newburgh |
| Township 147 | Franklin | Finley | Golden Lake | Enger |
| Township 146 | Greenview | Easton | Sherbrooke | Primrose |
| Township 145 | Riverside | Melrose | Hugo | Edendale |
| Township 144 | Willow Lake | Carpenter | Colgate | Broadlawn |
Politics
Steele County was a Democratic-leaning swing county in presidential elections until 2016, when Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump by nearly 20 points, an almost total flip from Barack Obama's 20 point win in 2008. In 2020, Joe Biden fared even worse despite a national increase for the Democratic Party from 2016. He was the first Democrat to win without the county since John F. Kennedy in 1960, and had the lowest proportion of the county's vote of any winning Democrat since Woodrow Wilson in 1912. Since 1964 Steele County has favored the Democratic presidential candidate in 64% of elections. Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFoot
Education
School districts include:[27]
- Dakota Prairie Public School District 1
- Finley-Sharon Public School District 19
- Griggs County Central School District 18
- Hatton Public School District 7
- Hope-Page School District 85 (merger of Hope Public School District 10 and Page Public School District 80)
- May-Port CG Public School District 14
- Northwood Public School District 129
Former districts:
- Hope Public School District 10[27] - Consolidated with Page district in 2020[28]
- Page Public School District 80[27] - Consolidated with Hope district in 2020[28]
In 1964 the county had 992 students in four schools; at the time there were five school districts but Colgate was not operating any schools as its school closed in 1964.[29]
See also
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Ghosts of North Dakota: Sherbrooke
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1". - Text list
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". - Check the 2020-2021 spreadsheet, which lists a single "Hope Page" school district, and compare with all previous sheets which show them as two separate school districts.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". - Clipping from Newspapers.com
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
External links
- Steele County – official website
- Steele County map, North Dakota DOT
Script error: No such module "Navbox". Script error: No such module "navbox". Template:Authority control