73,771 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.9% since 2020)
1,436 square miles of land · 51 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.
8 active community water systems list Grand Forks County in the area they serve, reporting 69,757 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| GRAND FORKS REGIONAL WTP surface water · local government · ND1800410 | 57,339 served |
| EAST CENTRAL REGIONAL WD-GF groundwater · private · ND1801062 | 5,995 served |
| AGASSIZ WATER USERS DISTRICT groundwater · private · ND1801056 | 3,438 served |
| LARIMORE CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND1800550 | 1,346 served |
| NORTHWOOD CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND1800753 | 945 served |
| EMERADO CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND1800311 | 414 served |
| ARVILLA WATER USERS ASSOCIATION buys groundwater · private · ND1800036 | 180 served |
| FOREST RIVER COLONY groundwater · private · ND1801456 | 100 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 195 people were held in Grand Forks County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 390 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 210.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Grand Forks County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $137.1 million — $116 million to run schools, about $15,253 per student, plus $13.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $39.9 million local (mostly property tax), $69.6 million state, $21.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $12.1 million.
Spent $10.7 million — $6.6 million to run schools, about $10,067 per student, plus $2.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $6.2 million state, $219,000 federal.
Spent $8.6 million — $5.4 million to run schools, about $13,874 per student, plus $2.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.9 million local (mostly property tax), $3.5 million state, $725,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1 million.
Spent $5.8 million — $5 million to run schools, about $15,102 per student, plus $205,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.3 million local (mostly property tax), $3.2 million state, $697,000 federal. Long-term debt: $515,000.
Spent $4.6 million — $3.7 million to run schools, about $18,730 per student, plus $547,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.5 million local (mostly property tax), $2.3 million state, $629,000 federal.
Spent $3.3 million — $2.4 million to run schools, about $12,798 per student, plus $179,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $969,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.9 million state, $516,000 federal.
Spent $2.4 million — $1.8 million to run schools, about $16,564 per student, plus $83,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $561,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $415,000 federal. Long-term debt: $300,000.
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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Grand Forks County about $25 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
337 bridges in Grand Forks County: 105 in good condition, 196 fair, and 36 poor (10.7%). “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.
| INTERSTATE 29 over ND297/DEMERS AVE INT-GF · built 1968 | 8,200 vehicles a day |
| US HIGHWAY 81 over CREEK · built 2006 | 2,820 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over COLE CREEK · built 1950 | 180 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD over TURTLE RIVER · built 1964 | 100 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over SO. BRANCH TURTLE RIVER · built 1966 | 95 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over CREEK · built 1946 | 70 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $371.2 million of work in Grand Forks County in fiscal 2025, about $5,073 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 Grand Forks 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 Grand Forks County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Dakota: the state government and every county in North Dakota.
Nearby counties: Walsh County (34 mi) · Nelson County (35 mi) · Steele County (35 mi) · Traill County (36 mi) · Griggs County (49 mi) · Polk County, MN (50 mi).