| County: | Wells County |
| State: | North Dakota |
| Ex Image: | Wells County Courthouse North Dakota.jpg |
| Founded: | January 4, 1873 (created) August 28, 1884 (organized) |
| Seat Wl: | Fessenden |
| Largest City Wl: | Harvey |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 1290 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 1271 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 19 |
| Area Percentage: | 1.5 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 3982 |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2022 |
| Population Est: | 3930 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Time Zone: | Central |
| Web: | www.wellscountynd.com |
| District: | At-large |
| Named For: | Edward Payson Wells |
Wells County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,982.[1] Its county seat is Fessenden.[2] 47.58°N -99.67°W
The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on January 4, 1873. Its government was not organized at that time, nor was it attached for administrative or judicial purposes to another county. It was named Gingras County; this name continued until February 26, 1881, when the name was changed to Wells County, named for Edward Payson Wells, a Jamestown banker, early promoter of the James River Valley, and member of the legislature in 1881.
The county government was organized on August 28, 1884, with Sykeston as the county seat. In 1894 the county seat was transferred to Fessendon.[3] The county boundary was altered in 1883 when a parcel was transferred to Foster County, and again in 1885 when it received land from Foster County. Its boundary has remained unchanged since 1885.[4]
The center of population of North Dakota is located in the extreme southeastern corner of Wells County, about 9miles southeast of Sykeston.[5]
The James River flows east-northeasterly through Wells County. The county terrain consists of rolling hills with occasional protuberances, dotted with lakes and ponds in its SW portion.[6] The terrain slopes to the east and north; its highest point is a protuberance near the southwestern corner, at 2182feet ASL.[7] Ihe county has a total area of, of which is land and (1.5%) is water.[8]
Source:[6]
Source:[6]
As of the census of 2020, there were 3,982 people.
As of the census of 2010, there were 4,207 people, 1,943 households, and 1,223 families in the county. The population density was 3.31/mi2. There were 2,481 housing units at an average density of 1.95adj=preNaNadj=pre. The racial makeup of the county was 98.9% white, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.1% Asian, 0.0% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 65.9% were German, 25.9% were Norwegian, 6.7% were Irish, and 1.8% were American.
Of the 1,943 households, 19.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.1% were non-families, and 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.67. The median age was 51.5 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $40,136 and the median income for a family was $52,400. Males had a median income of $38,442 versus $25,597 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,531. About 6.1% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over.
ImageSize = width:600 height:300PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:13300TimeAxis = orientation:verticalAlignBars = lateScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:3325 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1663 start:0BackgroundColors = 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:2022 text:present
PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left
bar:1890 from: 0 till:1212 bar:1900 from: 0 till:8310 bar:1910 from: 0 till:11814 bar:1920 from: 0 till:12957 bar:1930 from: 0 till:13285 bar:1940 from: 0 till:11198 bar:1950 from: 0 till:10417 bar:1960 from: 0 till:9237 bar:1970 from: 0 till:7847 bar:1980 from: 0 till:6979 bar:1990 from: 0 till:5864 bar:2000 from: 0 till:5102 bar:2010 from: 0 till:4207 bar:2020 from: 0 till:3982 bar:2022 from: 0 till:3930 color:darkblue
PlotData=
bar:1890 at:1212 fontsize:S text:1212 shift:(-14,5) bar:1900 at:8310 fontsize:S text:8310 shift:(-14,5) bar:1910 at:11814 fontsize:S text:11814 shift:(-14,5) bar:1920 at:12957 fontsize:S text:12957 shift:(-14,5) bar:1930 at:13285 fontsize:S text:13285 shift:(-14,5) bar:1940 at:11198 fontsize:S text:11198 shift:(-14,5) bar:1950 at:10417 fontsize:S text:10417 shift:(-14,5) bar:1960 at:9237 fontsize:S text:9237 shift:(-14,5) bar:1970 at:7847 fontsize:S text:7847 shift:(-14,5) bar:1980 at:6979 fontsize:S text:6979 shift:(-14,5) bar:1990 at:5864 fontsize:S text:5864 shift:(-14,5) bar:2000 at:5102 fontsize:S text:5102 shift:(-14,5) bar:2010 at:4207 fontsize:S text:4207 shift:(-14,5) bar:2020 at:3982 fontsize:S text:3982 shift:(-14,5) bar:2022 at:3930 fontsize:S text:3930 shift:(-14,5)
TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau
Wells County voters have been Republican-leaning for several decades. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate.