North Dakota Demographics

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2005, North Dakota has an estimated population of 636,677, which is an increase of 369, or 0.1%, from the prior year and a decrease of 5,527, or 0.9%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 10,283 people (that is 40,890 births minus 30,607 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 14,881 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 3,687 people, and migration within the country produced a net decrease of 18,568 people.

North Dakota ranks 48th of the 50 states in population, with only Vermont and Wyoming having fewer people. The center of population of North Dakota is located in Wells County, near Sykeston [1].

Most North Dakotans are of Northern European descent. The five largest ancestry groups in North Dakota are: German (43.9%), Norwegian (30.1%), Irish (7.7%), Native American (5%), Swedish (5%).

People of German ancestry are present throughout the state, especially the southern and central counties, and Scandinavians are also present throughout. A few counties have large Native American populations (principally on reservations). Individual counties in western and eastern North Dakota have the largest white, Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Polish and Hungarian percentages of any county.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 2.47% of the population aged 5 and over speak German at home, while 1.37% speak Spanish [2].

6.1% of North Dakota's population were reported as under 5, 25% under 18, and 14.7% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.1% of the population.

Since the 1980s, North Dakota has experienced virtually constant decline in population, particularly among younger people with university degrees. This emigration, called outmigration in North Dakota, has become a major political issue.

Among the aspects of the problem is a lack of skilled jobs for graduates. Some propose the expansion of economic development programs to create skilled and high-tech jobs; however, the effectiveness of such programs has been open to debate. Minot's MAGIC Fund was particularly scandalized in 2002.

Others propose providing incentives directly to students; for example, a 2002 ballot measure would have forgiven the student loans of all college graduates who reside in the state for a certain period of time following graduation. A similar program limited to health and education graduates has had some degree of success.

As the issue is common to several High Plains states, some federal politicians, including North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan, have proposed "The New Homestead Act of 2005" (compare to the original United States Homestead Act of 1862) to encourage living in areas losing population through incentives such as tax breaks, but these have also made little headway.

A very large majority of North Dakotans self-identify as Christian. North Dakota has the lowest percentage of non-religious people of any state, and it also has the most churches per capita of any state.

An estimate of the religious affiliations of the people of North Dakota (source: [3] CUNY, 2001):

• Christian: 86%
  • Protestant: 52%
    • Lutheran: 35%
    • Methodist: 7%
    • Baptist: 6%
    • Assemblies of God: 3%
    • Jehovah's Witness: 1%
    • Other Protestant: 1%
  • Roman Catholic: 30%
  • LDS (Mormon): 1%
  • Other Christian: 2%
• Muslim: 2%
• Buddhist: 1%
• Other: 1%
• Non-religious: 3%
• Did Not Answer: 6%

North Dakota population density