Benson County, North Dakota Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Benson County, North Dakota, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Benson County, North Dakota. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Benson County, North Dakota. The estimated population of Benson County, North Dakota is 6,090 people, with a median age of 29.9.

We can look at the total population in Benson County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
6,090
 -11.22% -11.42%
2020
6,860
 -0.19% -
2019
6,873
 -0.19% -
2018
6,886
+0.16%
-
2017
6,875
 - -

Population of Benson County, North Dakota by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
37.7%
41.3%
 -8.72%
Black/African American
0.2%
0%
 0.00%
Native
55.3%
55.7%
 -0.72%
Hispanic
3.8%
0.9%
 +322.22%
Asian
0.4%
0.1%
 +300.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.1%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
2.5%
1.9%
 +31.58%
Other
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Benson County, North Dakota by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 29.9 -4.17% 29.6 -5.43% 30.4 -2.25%
2020 31.2 +2.3% 31.3 +4.68% 31.1 +0.65%
2019 30.5 0% 29.9 -0.66% 30.9 +0.32%
2018 30.5 -0.65% 30.1 -1.31% 30.8 -0.32%
2017 30.7 - 30.5 - 30.9 -

The median age of Benson County, North Dakota gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 694 -8.46% 672 -10.14% 635 605
10 to 19 625 -3.55% 513 +1.69% 601 519
20 to 29 429 -23.4% 447 -20.81% 334 357
30 to 39 379 -1.75% 346 -1.61% 368 335
40 to 49 323 -30.5% 334 -23.7% 235 259
50 to 59 399 -1.21% 387 -8.66% 391 350
60 to 69 376 -30.36% 390 -12.23% 268 337
70+ 295 -6.39% 266 -17.84% 275 221

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Benson County, North Dakota is $54,375.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Benson County.

  • Under 25
    $20,000.00
  • 25 to 44
    $48,889.00
  • 45 to 64
    $62,951.00
  • 65 and over
    $56,750.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Benson County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Benson County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Benson County, North Dakota is currently $68,509.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

4.69% of households in Benson County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Benson County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    29.86%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    16.90%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    21.01%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    12.74%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    11.69%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    3.11%
  • $200,000 or more
    4.69%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Benson County is $21,383.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Benson County by the total population of Benson County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Benson County, North Dakota, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Benson County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    9.42%
  • Bachelor's degree
    28.80%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    13.29%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    45.95%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.54%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Benson County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Benson County over the age of 16 is 4,099.

Of those people, a total of 50.60% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Benson County is 49.00%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 369 24.90% 8.70%
20 to 24 years 326 54.90% 2.80%
25 to 29 years 365 56.40% 2.40%
30 to 34 years 353 64.60% 1.30%
35 to 44 years 577 61.50% 6.20%
45 to 54 years 574 61.10% 4.60%
55 to 59 years 434 69.40% 1.30%
60 to 64 years 283 56.90% 3.70%
65 to 74 years 532 28.90% 0.00%
75 years and over 286 17.10% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Benson County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 1,935 57.10% 2.60%
Black or African American 12 83.30% 0.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1,991 42.40% 4.70%
Asian 20 90.00% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 4 100.00% 0.00%
Other 14 57.10% 0.00%
Two or more races 123 70.70% 0.00%
Hispanic or Latino 81 46.90% 0.00%
Not Hispanic or Latino 1,926 57.30% 2.60%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Benson County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Benson County is 2,007, with median earnings of $39,446.00.

Women in Benson County, North Dakota earning approximately 72.80% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 2,007 $39,446.00
Male 1,033 $47,610.00
Female 974 $34,683.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 365 $55,625.00
Business and Financial 107 $41,685.00
Computer and Mathematical 8 $87,500.00
Architecture and Engineering 0 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 5 $39,375.00
Community and Social Service 74 $34,868.00
Legal 6 $82,500.00
Educational and Library 222 $43,214.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 16 $4,722.00
Healthcare Practitioners 60 $47,500.00
Healthcare Support 40 $27,083.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 67 $8,942.00
Law Enforcement 11 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 132 $13,750.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 82 $10,625.00
Personal Care and Service 64 $27,250.00
Sales 128 $31,250.00
Office and Administrative Support 188 $34,875.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 46 $27,500.00
Construction and Extraction 106 $39,500.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 54 $53,929.00
Production 83 $61,042.00
Transportation and Material Moving 75 $60,625.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 289 $62,520.00 76 $52,500.00
Business and Financial 36 $41,719.00 71 $41,607.00
Computer and Mathematical 5 $78,125.00 3 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 5 $39,375.00 0 $0.00
Community and Social Service 20 $17,273.00 54 $36,250.00
Legal 1 $0.00 5 $0.00
Educational and Library 59 $51,964.00 163 $41,406.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 1 $0.00 15 $4,583.00
Healthcare Practitioners 7 $38,750.00 53 $49,063.00
Healthcare Support 0 $0.00 40 $27,083.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 50 $20,556.00 17 $5,865.00
Law Enforcement 11 $0.00 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 47 $16,719.00 85 $8,750.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 45 $7,656.00 37 $25,481.00
Personal Care and Service 19 $6,979.00 45 $28,250.00
Sales 43 $62,083.00 85 $25,804.00
Office and Administrative Support 29 $50,417.00 159 $33,313.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 39 $26,563.00 7 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 97 $43,125.00 9 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 50 $54,643.00 4 $0.00
Production 64 $69,167.00 19 $57,813.00
Transportation and Material Moving 60 $56,250.00 15 $70,156.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 1,899 households in Benson County, with an average household size of 3.2 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 1,346 families in Benson County with an average family size of 3.87 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 827 149 370 553
Average Household Size 3.41 5.01 5.05 1.16
Total Families 827 149 370 0
Average Household Size 3.38 4.54 4.72 0

Poverty

Of the 1,346 families in Benson County, 25.50% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Benson County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 2,610 housing units in Benson County, North Dakota.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 1,899 72.76%
Vacant 711 27.24%

14.52% of the total 2,610 housing units in Benson County are rental units. This is approximately 379 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 1,336 are occupied by the owner - or 51.19% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Benson County is $446.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Benson County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    184
  • Less than $500
    216
  • $500 to $999
    140
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    23
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    0
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    0
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    0
  • $3,000 or more
    0

Property Value

The median value of a property in Benson County is $80,900.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Benson County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    422
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    312
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    187
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    97
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    173
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    84
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    54
  • $1,000,000 or more
    7

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Benson County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Benson County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    447
  • 1940 to 1949
    103
  • 1950 to 1959
    167
  • 1960 to 1969
    497
  • 1970 to 1979
    646
  • 1980 to 1989
    359
  • 1990 to 1999
    141
  • 2000 to 2009
    166
  • 2010 to 2013
    82
  • 2014 or later
    2

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Benson County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    173
  • 1 vehicle available
    551
  • 2 vehicles available
    462
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    713

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Benson County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Benson County that commute to work in a particular way.

15.6 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Benson County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    255
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    356
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    382
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    266
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    202
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    72
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    219
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    15
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    25
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    60
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    6
  • 90 or more minutes
    13

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Benson County, North Dakota in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Benson County, North Dakota

We have data for 40 places in Benson County, North Dakota. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.