county

Wells County, ND

Demographic and economic profile of Wells County, ND, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Wells County is a small, agriculture-oriented county in central North Dakota with a population of 3,942 and a labor force participation rate of 59.6%, reflecting its older median age of 46.3 years. The available workforce skews toward high school credentials (91.8% attainment) rather than four-year degrees (22.3%), with median worker earnings of $39,531 and unemployment at just 1.6%. Housing costs are low—median home value of $106,400 and median gross rent of $630/month—though the county has shed population at a rate of 2.8% over five years.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

3,942

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$66,114

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

46.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-2.8% since 2018

Wells County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone3,698 (95.1%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races110 (2.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race38 (1.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone21 (0.5%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone14 (0.4%)
  • Asian Alone9 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic38
  2. 2.Spanish33
  3. 3.Other Indo-European8
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)4
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)4

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

51.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

25.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

212

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$75,805

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$42,252

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

1.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

10.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance422
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining315
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)201
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services145
  5. 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities119

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations769
  2. 2.Service Occupations305
  3. 3.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations256
  4. 4.Sales & Office Occupations237
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations206

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 10.95×)320
  2. 2.Retail Trade (LQ 1.16×)231
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.14×)122
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.09×)175
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.06×)452

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$106,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$630/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

77.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999166 (12.1%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999164 (11.9%)
  • $40,000 to $49,999125 (9.1%)
  • $50,000 to $59,999108 (7.8%)
  • $300,000 to $399,99998 (7.1%)
  • $150,000 to $174,99989 (6.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

22.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

59.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$39,531

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

14.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone1,104 (65.0%)
  • Walked190 (11.2%)
  • Carpooled189 (11.1%)
  • Worked At Home176 (10.4%)
  • Bicycle24 (1.4%)
  • Public Transit14 (0.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.