Wells County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,982. Its county seat is Fessenden.

History

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. 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. The center of population of North Dakota is located in the extreme southeastern corner of Wells County, about 9 mi southeast of Sykeston.

Geography

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. The terrain slopes to the east and north; its highest point is a protuberance near the southwestern corner, at 2,182 ft ASL. Ihe county has a total area of 1290 sqmi, of which 1271 sqmi is land and 19 sqmi (1.5%) is water.

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Lakes

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Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 3,982 people.

2010 census

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 1.95 /mi2. 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.

Population by decade

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Politics

Wells County voters have been Republican-leaning for several decades. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate.