North Dakota Counties Map: Click All 53 Counties

How many counties are in North Dakota?

North Dakota has 53 counties. 29 states have more, and 20 have fewer.

North Dakota has 53 counties. Cass County (Fargo) has the most people, and Burleigh County holds the capital, Bismarck, on the Missouri River. McKenzie County, in the oil country of the west, is the largest.

How North Dakota's counties were formed

North Dakota's counties began in the Dakota Territory, which drew dozens of counties on paper in the 1870s and 1880s before many had settlers. Statehood came in 1889, and homesteading in the west led to new counties into the 1910s; Grant County, organized in 1916, was the last, a year after Slope and Sioux. Several early paper counties were merged or renamed along the way.

North Dakota regions and the counties in each

North Dakota has three natural regions. The Red River Valley, among the flattest farmland on Earth, runs along the Minnesota border through Cass (Fargo), Grand Forks and Pembina counties. The Drift Prairie covers the middle, including Ramsey County and Devils Lake. The Missouri Plateau fills the west, with Burleigh (Bismarck) and Morton counties on the Missouri River, the Bakken oil counties of McKenzie, Williams and Mountrail, and the Badlands of Billings County, home of Theodore Roosevelt National Park's South Unit.

Notable places on the North Dakota county map

White Butte, the state's highest point at 3,506 feet, is in Slope County. Theodore Roosevelt National Park has units in Billings and McKenzie counties, and the International Peace Garden straddles the Canadian border in Rolette County. Rugby, in Pierce County, has long claimed to be the geographic center of North America.

North Dakota counties map: the biggest and smallest

McKenzie County is the largest county in North Dakota, with 2,760 square miles of land, about 4% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Delaware and Rhode Island. Eddy County is the smallest, at 630 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Eddy County (630 sq mi), Foster County (634 sq mi) and Griggs County (709 sq mi).

Which counties in North Dakota have the most people?

Cass County has the most people, about 200,945 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 25% of everyone in North Dakota. The three biggest counties together hold 47% of the state's 796,568 people. Slope County has the fewest, about 660.

The most crowded is Cass County, with about 114 people per square mile. The emptiest is Slope County, with less than one person per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Bismarck in?

Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, is in Burleigh County. Burleigh County ranks 2nd of 53 by population. North Dakota is called the Peace Garden State, and it became the 39th state in 1889.

Counties on the North Dakota border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. North Dakota shares a border with Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota.

How North Dakota's counties compare with other states

North Dakota ranks 17th among the 50 states in land area and 47th in population. Its average county covers about 1,302 square miles and holds about 15,030 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so North Dakota's counties are close to the national average in size.

Landmarks for learning the counties of North Dakota

• Cass County (Fargo) sits on the Red River on the eastern border.
• Burleigh County (Bismarck) is in the middle of the state.
• The Badlands counties, including Billings and McKenzie, are in the west.

With 53 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the North Dakota county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 53 North Dakota counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

North Dakota geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Midwest states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in north dakota, and check north dakota school choice to see whether a program may help pay for North Dakota history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.