68,427 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.1% since 2020)
2,013 square miles of land · 34 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.
14 active community water systems list Ward County in the area they serve, reporting 65,645 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MINOT CITY OF groundwater · local government · ND5100660 | 48,743 served |
| NORTH PRAIRIE RWD-SYSTEM 1&2 buys groundwater · private · ND5101125 | 7,748 served |
| NORTH PRAIRIE RWD-SYSTEM III groundwater · private · ND5101065 | 2,742 served |
| SURREY CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND5100923 | 1,365 served |
| UPPER SOURIS WATER DISTRICT-SYSTEM I buys groundwater · private · ND5101074 | 1,296 served |
| BURLINGTON CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND5100138 | 1,060 served |
| KENMARE CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND5100515 | 961 served |
| BERTHOLD CITY OF buys groundwater · local government · ND5100072 | 454 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 128 people were held in Ward County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 280 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 95.
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.
8 school districts have their office in Ward County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $167.4 million — $117.4 million to run schools, about $15,223 per student, plus $42.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $51.9 million local (mostly property tax), $71.5 million state, $37.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $128.4 million.
Spent $10.6 million — $9.6 million to run schools, about $13,615 per student, plus $487,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4 million local (mostly property tax), $6.7 million state, $661,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.9 million.
Spent $8.8 million — $8 million to run schools, about $13,298 per student, plus $583,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.8 million local (mostly property tax), $5.5 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.3 million.
Spent $7.9 million — $6.8 million to run schools, about $12,756 per student, plus $706,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $5 million state, $683,000 federal. Long-term debt: $7.4 million.
Spent $5.8 million — $5.4 million to run schools, about $12,846 per student, plus $109,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.7 million local (mostly property tax), $4.3 million state, $132,000 federal.
Spent $10 million — $7.5 million to run schools, about $18,713 per student, plus $1.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.9 million local (mostly property tax), $4.4 million state, $181,000 federal.
Spent $6.4 million — $5.2 million to run schools, about $17,222 per student, plus $736,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $2.6 million state, $760,000 federal.
Spent $2.6 million — $2 million to run schools, about $26,973 per student, plus $372,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $992,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $227,000 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.
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 Ward County about $36.8 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.
125 bridges in Ward County: 58 in good condition, 59 fair, and 8 poor (6.4%). “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.
| 3RD ST. N.E. over 4TH AVE BNRR SOURIS R. · built 1936 | 9,000 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD over DES LACS RIVER · built 1972 | 75 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD over DES LACS RIVER · built 1965 | 25 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD over DES LACS RIVER · built 1955 | 25 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD over SECOND LARSON COULEE · built 1965 | 25 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD over EGG CREEK · built 1965 | 25 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $45 million of work in Ward County in fiscal 2025, about $644 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 Ward 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 Ward County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Dakota: the state government and every county in North Dakota.
Nearby counties: Renville County (35 mi) · Mountrail County (38 mi) · McLean County (39 mi) · McHenry County (42 mi) · Bottineau County (52 mi) · Burke County (60 mi).