Steele County, North Dakota

Steele County population, land area and income

Steele County had 1,767 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 712.1 square miles of land. It ranks 50th of 53 in North Dakota by population and 50th by land area. That works out to 2.5 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and in the bottom quarter nationally.

The median county-equivalent in North Dakota has 3,853 residents, so Steele County has 46% of the typical county's population.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $87,300 is in the top tenth among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Steele County's population changed since 2020

Steele County lost 23 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 1.3%. That ranks 27th of 53 in North Dakota for growth. The median North Dakota county changed by -1.3%, and the state as a whole by +2.2%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Steele County recorded 67 births and 75 deaths, a natural change of -8. Net international migration added +0 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to -14. The largest single component was domestic migration, which removed 14 people.

Where Steele County is

The Census internal point of Steele County is at 47.451100, -97.718900. It sits in UTM zone 14N. The map shades North Dakota's 53 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Steele County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Steele County

No incorporated place of 1,000 or more people has residents in Steele County. Its 1,767 residents live in smaller towns, census-designated places, or unincorporated land, which the subcounty estimates do not list at this size.

Counties bordering Steele County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 6 neighbors for Steele County. The most populous is Cass County, ND, with 200,945 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Cass County

  200,945 people

  42 mi SSE

• Grand Forks County

  73,771 people

  35 mi NNE

• Barnes County

  10,798 people

  39 mi SSW

• Traill County

  7,989 people

  26 mi E

• Nelson County

  3,007 people

  39 mi NW

• Griggs County

  2,227 people

  24 mi W

Distance to Bismarck and the nearest big city

Bismarck is 150.4 miles WSW of Steele County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Fargo, ND (population 136,285), 58.2 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Grand Forks, ND (population 59,845), 43.7 miles away.

Steele County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Steele County is 38091: state code 38 for North Dakota plus county code 091. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $87,300.