North Dakota · county 38063

Nelson County, North Dakota: public records at a glance

What national public records say about Nelson County — people, schools, health, drinking water, bridges, disaster risk, the jail, federal grants and how to vote — each with its source. A full County Commons site (the budget line by line, your tax bill, audits, local offices) isn't built for Nelson County yet — not gathered, never hidden.

3,007 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.3% since 2020)
982 square miles of land · 3 people per square mile

How Nelson County compares — against the other counties in North Dakota

3,007 — people: 34th highest of 53 North Dakota counties.
$18,324 — spending per student in its school districts: 17th highest of 53 North Dakota counties.
78.4 years — life expectancy: 22nd highest of 50 North Dakota counties.
6.8% — share of adults under 65 without health insurance: 33rd highest of 53 North Dakota counties.
8.5% — child poverty: 47th highest of 53 North Dakota counties.
79.4% — households with broadband internet: 48th highest of 53 North Dakota counties.
$69,274 — median household income: 35th highest of 53 North Dakota counties.
17.4% — share of bridges rated poor: 11th highest of 51 North Dakota counties.
$1,244 — federal grant dollars per resident: 26th highest of 53 North Dakota counties.
$3.0 million — expected yearly losses from natural hazards: 43rd highest of 53 North Dakota counties.

“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.

Drinking water — public water systems serving Nelson County

6 active community water systems list Nelson County in the area they serve, reporting 4,204 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).

TRI-COUNTY WATER DISTRICT groundwater · private · ND3201072	2,501 served
LAKOTA CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND3200536	672 served
MCVILLE CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND3200636	349 served
MICHIGAN CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND3200653	294 served
ANETA CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND3200023	222 served
TOLNA CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND3200944	166 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.

The jail — people held in the county jail

About 11 people were held in Nelson County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 687 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 10.

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.

Public schools — district budgets, fiscal 2023

2 school districts have their office in Nelson County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.

DAKOTA PRAIRIE SCHOOL DISTRICT 1295 students

Spent $6.6 million — $5.7 million to run schools, about $19,451 per student, plus $535,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $3.3 million state, $711,000 federal.

LAKOTA PUB SCH DIST 66184 students

Spent $3.3 million — $3 million to run schools, about $16,516 per student, plus $214,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.4 million local (mostly property tax), $1.9 million state, $418,000 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.

Health, money and internet at home — Nelson County beside North Dakota

Life expectancy78.4 years · North Dakota 77.8 years

Adults under 65 without health insurance6.8% · North Dakota 7.2%

Children in poverty8.5% · North Dakota 10.1%

Households without enough food (food insecurity)10.0% · North Dakota 8.5%

Households with broadband internet79.4% · North Dakota 87.5%

Households with severe housing problems6.4% · North Dakota 12.0%

Unemployment2.5% · North Dakota 1.9%

Median household income$69,274 · North Dakota $77,346

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.

Disaster risk — FEMA's National Risk Index

Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Nelson County about $3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very High.

The costliest hazards here

Cold wave$908,182 a year · Relatively Low

Hail$675,588 a year · Relatively Moderate

River and inland flooding$459,711 a year · Very Low

Ice storm$282,518 a year · Relatively Moderate

Strong wind$202,613 a year · Relatively Low

Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.

Bridges — condition of every public bridge, 2025

23 bridges in Nelson County: 7 in good condition, 12 fair, and 4 poor (17.4%). “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.

Busiest bridges rated poor

ND HIGHWAY 1 over SHEYENNE RIVER · built 1964	300 vehicles a day
COUNTY HIGHWAY over SHEYENNE RIVER · built 1920	20 vehicles a day
COUNTY HIGHWAY over SHEYENNE RIVER · built 1904	5 vehicles a day
COUNTY HIGHWAY over SHEYENNE RIVER · built 1910	5 vehicles a day

Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.

Federal grants — the money that came in, and what's open now

Federal grants paid for $3.8 million of work in Nelson County in fiscal 2025, about $1,244 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.

Open now: federal grants county governments can apply for

F26AS00062: Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act FY 2026 Fish and Wildlife Service · F26AS00062	closes 2026-10-13
OVC FY 2026 Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking Office for Victims of Crime · O-OVC-2026-172699	closes 2026-10-14
BJA FY 2026 Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Program Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172661	closes 2026-10-15
FY26 Bureau of Land Management Youth Conservation Corps - Bureau wide Bureau of Land Management · L26AS00064	closes 2026-10-16
FY 2027 Notice of Funding Opportunity: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) FAA Contract Tower (FCT) Competitive Grant Program Airport Improvement Program Discretionary Grants · DOT-FAA-26-0117-002	closes 2026-10-19
Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Service Area Competition (SAC) Health Resources and Services Administration · HRSA-27-005	closes 2026-10-19
Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP Competition AmeriCorps · AC-08-20-2026	closes 2026-10-20
DOJ FY 2026 Assisting Neighborhoods and Governments with Enforcement of Laws (ANGEL) Grant Program Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172778	closes 2026-10-20
Long-term health outcomes of people living with spina bifida Centers for Disease Control - NCBDDD · CDC-RFA-DD-26-0222	closes 2026-10-26
OJJDP FY 2026 Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention · O-OJJDP-2026-172741	closes 2026-10-29
BJA FY 2026 Veterans Treatment Court Program Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172714	closes 2026-10-29
BJA FY 2026 Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172708	closes 2026-10-29

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.

Voting

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.

Not here yet

The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Nelson 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 Nelson County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.

More of North Dakota: the state government and every county in North Dakota.

Nearby counties: Griggs County (32 mi) · Ramsey County (34 mi) · Grand Forks County (35 mi) · Eddy County (35 mi) · Walsh County (39 mi) · Steele County (39 mi).