Towner County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population is 2,162, and was estimated to be 2,040 in 2025. The county seat and largest city is Cando. It is south of the Canada–US border with Manitoba.
History The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on March 8, 1883, with areas partitioned from Cavalier and Rolette counties. It was named for Oscar M. Towner (1842–1897), a businessman and member of the 15th territorial legislature. The county organization was not completed at that time, and the county was attached to Pembina County for judicial and administrative purposes. That lasted until January 24, 1884, when the county organization was effected, and its attachment to Pembina was dissolved. However, on January 26, 1889, the county was attached to Ramsey County for judicial and administrative purposes. This arrangement only lasted a few months. The boundaries of Towner County, as first formed, have not been altered to the present (as of 2019).
The county should not be confused with the city of Towner, which is located in McHenry County.
Geography Towner County lies on the north line of North Dakota, and thus on the north line of the continental United States. Its north boundary line abuts the south boundary line of Canada. Its terrain consists of rolling hills dotted with lakes and ponds. The area is devoted to agriculture. The Laurentian Divide runs across Towner County - the northern terrain slopes to the north while the southern terrain slopes to the south, and the county as a whole slightly slopes to the east.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.59%) is water. It is the 36th largest county in North Dakota by total area.
Towner County, North Dakota Weather Data
Averages use 1901-2000
Records are from 1895–Present Avg TempMin Temp Max Temp PrecipAvg Jan 0.92-9.3911.260.59Hist Hi Jan21.80 200614.20 200629.50 20062.10 1917Hist Lo Jan-16.70 1950-25.40 1950-8.00 19500.02 1973Avg Feb6.84-3.668.600.43Hist Hi Feb24.00 195417.40 199833.60 19542.11 1998Hist Lo Feb-17.60 1936-27.00 1936-8.30 19360.03 1971Avg Mar20.5410.2230.850.75Hist Hi Mar38.00 191025.70 201250.90 19103.02 1902Hist Lo Mar2.70 1899-9.90 189915.20 18990.02 2019Avg Apr38.5526.8850.221.17Hist Hi Apr48.20 198734.20 200664.30 19524.19 1896Hist Lo Apr25.70 201315.80 201335.60 20130.03 1952Avg May51.9738.5465.39 2.19Hist Hi May63.40 197748.50 197778.40 19776.37 1999Hist Lo May41.40 190727.90 190754.80 19070.18 1907Avg Jun61.1448.5373.754.05Hist Hi Jun71.70 198856.20 198887.20 198811.08 1954Hist Lo Jun53.50 191541.70 196965.20 19150.97 1900Avg Jul66.5153.3079.732.81Hist Hi Jul76.50 193659.80 193693.20 19368.48 1993Hist Lo Jul59.50 199247.90 191570.60 19920.41 1985Avg Aug64.3050.4578.142.48Hist Hi Aug71.50 198356.50 198388.30 19617.57 1980Hist Lo Aug57.70 200445.30 197769.00 20040.24 1961Avg Sep53.8540.5867.121.74Hist Hi Sep63.30 200949.80 200978.90 18976.16 1941Hist Lo Sep44.60 196533.80 196555.50 19650.06 1938Avg Oct41.4229.2853.551.10Hist Hi Oct52.50 196337.90 196367.00 19635.16 1994Hist Lo Oct29.40 191917.90 191939.00 19250.06 1944Avg Nov22.7513.4832.030.67Hist Hi Nov37.80 201628.30 201647.30 20162.93 2000Hist Lo Nov2.50 1896-5.60 189610.50 18960.02 1939Avg Dec7.91 -1.6417.460.59Hist Hi Dec22.80 193914.70 199732.90 19391.85 1906Hist Lo Dec-5.40 1917-15.30 19174.10 19830.01 1954Avg 12 Mo36.3924.7148.071.49Hi 12 Mo76.50 Jul 193659.80 Jul 193693.20 Jul 193611.08 Jun 1954Lo 12 Mo-17.60 Feb 1936-27.00 Feb 1936-8.30 Feb 19360.01 Dec 1954
Major highways
U.S. Route 281 North Dakota Highway 4 North Dakota Highway 5 North Dakota Highway 17 North Dakota Highway 66
Adjacent counties and rural municipalities
Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain, Manitoba - northwest Cartwright-Roblin Municipality, Manitoba - north Municipality of Louise, Manitoba - northeast Cavalier County - east Ramsey County - southeast Benson County - south Pierce County - southwest Rolette County - west
National protected areas
Brumba National Wildlife Refuge Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge (part) Rock Lake National Wildlife Refuge Snyder Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Lakes Source:
Armourdale Lake Brumba Pool Lake Alice (part) McLaughlin Lake Moore Lake Pound Lake Rock Lake Snyder Lake
Demographics
As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Towner County was $130,113.
As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 958 estimated households in Towner County with an average of 2.17 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $63,017. Approximately 9.4% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Towner County has an estimated 63.0% employment rate, with 18.9% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 89.5% 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 (97.3%), Spanish (2.2%), Indo-European (0.1%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.0%), and Other (0.4%).
The median age in the county was 50.3 years.
Towner County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition Race / ethnicity (NH = non-Hispanic) Pop. 1980 Pop. 1990 Pop. 2000 Pop. 2010 White alone (NH) 4,003(98.79%) 3,562(98.21%) 2,797(97.25%) 2,165(96.39%) 1,984(91.77%) Black or African American alone (NH) 3(0.07%) 2(0.06%) 2(0.07%) 2(0.09%) 2(0.09%) Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 41(1.01%) 53(1.46%) 57(1.98%) 49(2.18%) 71(3.28%) Asian alone (NH) 3(0.07%) 5(0.14%) 2(0.07%) 1(0.04%) 10(0.46%) Pacific Islander alone (NH) — — 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 1(0.05%) Other race alone (NH) 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 0(0.00%) 4(0.18%) 4(0.19%) Mixed race or multiracial (NH) — — 13(0.45%) 15(0.67%) 56(2.59%) Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2(0.05%) 5(0.14%) 5(0.17%) 10(0.45%) 34(1.57%) Total 4,052(100.00%) 3,627(100.00%) 2,876(100.00%) 2,246(100.00%) 2,162(100.00%)
2024 Estimate As of the 2024 estimate, there were 2,051 people and 958 households residing in the county. There were 1,283 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.0% White (87.8% NH White), 0.5% African American, 5.5% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 2.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.8% of the population.
2020 census As of the 2020 census, there were 2,162 people, 965 households, and 587 families residing in the county. Of the residents, 22.8% were under the age of 18 and 24.7% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 51.1 years. For every 100 females there were 105.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 104.4 males.
The population density was . There were 1,290 housing units at an average density of . Of the housing units, 25.2% were vacant, 77.8% of the occupied units were owner-occupied, and 22.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 24.8%.
The racial makeup of the county was 91.9% White, 0.1% Black or African American, 3.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, 0.6% from some other race, and 3.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.6% of the population.
Of the 965 households, 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 19.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
2010 census As of the 2010 census, there were 2,246 people, 1,048 households, and 639 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 1,449 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.75% White, 0.09% African American, 2.18% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.27% from some other races and 0.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 0.45% of the population.
In terms of ancestry, 46.5% were German, 41.5% were Norwegian, 10.4% were Irish, 7.4% were English, 5.5% were Swedish, and 3.2% were American.
There were 1,048 households, 22.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 39.0% were non-families, and 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.71. The median age was 50.3 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $43,684 and the median income for a family was $54,609. Males had a median income of $36,350 versus $26,164 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,203. About 8.5% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.1% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.
Population by decade
Communities Cities
Bisbee Cando (county seat) Egeland Hansboro Perth Rocklake Sarles (mostly in Cavalier County2007 Taxable Valuation Survey , North Dakota League of Cities)
Unincorporated communities Agate Armourdale Arndt Considine Crocus Elsberry Maza Newville Olmstead Pasha
Townships
Armourdale Atkins Bethel Cando Coolin Crocus Dash Gerrard Grainfield Howell Lansing Maza Monroe Mount View New City Olson Paulson Picton Rock Lake Sidney Smith Sorenson Springfield Teddy Twin Hill Victor Virginia Zion
Politics
Education School districts include: - Text list Leeds Public School District 6 Mount Pleasant Public School District 4 Munich Public School District 19 North Star School District 10 Starkweather Public School District 44
Former school districts: Bisbee-Egeland School District - Formed in 1980 with the merger of the Bisbee and Egeland districts, known as West Central School District 12 and East Central School District 12, respectively. - Clipping from Newspapers.com - The author was an English teacher at Bisbee-Egeland High School. Merged into North Star Schools in 2008. Cando School District - Merged into North Star Schools in 2008. North Central Public School District 28 - Text list
See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Towner County, North Dakota
References
External links Towner County – official website Towner County map, North Dakota DOT