5,756 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.1% since 2020)
1,389 square miles of land · 4 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
4 active community water systems list Benson County in the area they serve, reporting 1,138 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LEEDS CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND0300553 | 427 served |
| MADDOCK CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND0300587 | 382 served |
| MINNEWAUKAN CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND0300659 | 224 served |
| OBERON CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND0300762 | 105 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 22 people were held in Benson County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 687 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 20.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
6 school districts have their office in Benson County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $6.2 million — $5.9 million to run schools, about $19,886 per student, plus $281,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $880,000 local (mostly property tax), $3.1 million state, $2.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.3 million.
Spent $8.3 million — $5.9 million to run schools, about $26,520 per student, plus $2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $736,000 local (mostly property tax), $2.1 million state, $5.5 million federal.
Spent $5.1 million — $4.3 million to run schools, about $21,415 per student, plus $788,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $989,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $2.9 million federal.
Spent $3 million — $2.6 million to run schools, about $20,621 per student, plus $301,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.4 million local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $514,000 federal.
Spent $2.9 million — $2.6 million to run schools, about $20,748 per student, plus $180,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.4 million local (mostly property tax), $1.2 million state, $182,000 federal. Long-term debt: $695,000.
Spent $2.3 million — $1.9 million to run schools, about $42,422 per student, plus $216,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $222,000 local (mostly property tax), $733,000 state, $1.7 million federal.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Benson County about $5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
40 bridges in Benson County: 20 in good condition, 13 fair, and 7 poor (17.5%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| US HIGHWAY 281 over BNRR SEP. · built 1936 | 450 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HWY over BIG COULEE · built 1955 | 200 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over COULEE · built 1951 | 75 vehicles a day |
| IRRFT COUNTY HIWAY over SHEYENNE RIVER · built 1976 | 35 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over SHEYENNE RIVER · built 1912 | 15 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over SHEYENNE RIVER · built 1907 | 5 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $29.3 million of work in Benson County in fiscal 2025, about $4,913 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for North Dakota are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Benson County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Benson County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Dakota: the state government and every county in North Dakota.
Nearby counties: Pierce County (31 mi) · Ramsey County (31 mi) · Eddy County (32 mi) · Wells County (37 mi) · Towner County (42 mi) · Foster County (47 mi).