Boundary by 2024 margin · Precinct returns · VEST · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupNelson CountyNorth DakotaUnited States
Norwegian43.2%20.3%—
German29.3%34.5%12.5%
Swedish5.4%3.2%—
Irish5.2%7.3%9.4%
English4.4%5.1%9.5%
Czech3.7%——
French2.8%2.3%1.6%
Finnish2.2%——
Mexican2.1%2.8%11.3%
Honduran0.2%—0.3%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Nelson County
North Dakota
United States
Median age
50.1
36.4
39.1
Age 18–24
4.6%
11.1%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
28.3%
16.5%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Nelson County
North Dakota
United States
Median household income
$67,193
$76,657
$84,427
Poverty rate
7.2%
10.8%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
29.4%
32.9%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Nelson County
North Dakota
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
4.8%
6.7%
22.3%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic
1.5%
0.3%
0.7%
Other Indo-European
1.2%
0.7%
2.0%
Religious landscape
Measure
Nelson County
North Dakota
United States
Catholic
20.7%
21.1%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
4.6%
10.8%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
5.2%
45.0%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
69.5%
21.0%
5.2%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Nelson County, North Dakota
Precinct data
Results by precinct
7 precincts · 1,761 votes
Precinct boundaries and identifiers are cycle-specific. This table does not join rows across years without a validated crosswalk.
Nelson County precinct-level presidential election results for 2024
Precinct -11
580
1,139
40
1,759
33.0%
64.8%
R+31.8
Precinct -22
0
2
0
2
0.0%
100.0%
R+100.0
Nelson 23-01 Voting District01
0
0
0
0
—
—
Even
Nelson 23-02 Voting District02
0
0
0
0
—
—
Even
Nelson 23-03 Voting District03
0
0
0
0
—
—
Even
Nelson 23-04 Voting District04
0
0
0
0
—
—
Even
Nelson 23-05 Voting District05
0
0
0
0
—
—
Even
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
−46.1%
1896
−1.1%
1900
−25.8%
1904
−54.9%
1908
−31.7%
1912
+4.6%
1916
−7.6%
1920
−71.0%
1924
−44.1%
1928
−20.9%
1932
+53.7%
1936
+43.5%
1940
+13.3%
1944
+12.2%
1948
−1.2%
1952
−26.4%
1956
−0.7%
1960
−4.1%
1964
+33.0%
1968
−1.5%
1972
−8.8%
1976
+9.1%
1980
−34.1%
1984
−16.7%
1988
+3.3%
1992
−1.0%
1996
+4.6%
2000
−18.7%
2004
−17.1%
2008
+6.1%
2012
−5.8%
2016
−28.5%
2020
−31.2%
2024
−31.9%
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
R
32.9%Harris580
64.8%Trump1,141
1.9%Oliver34 +1
R+31.9
R+0.6
R+30.4
1,761
All 4 candidates in 2024 · 2 minor / independent
Donald J TrumpRepublican64.8%1,141
Kamala D HarrisDemocratic32.9%580
Chase OliverLibertarian1.9%34
OtherAll other candidates0.3%6
R
33.0%Biden586
64.2%Trump1,141
2.4%Jorgensen43
R+31.2
R+2.8
R+35.7
1,777
R
31.2%Clinton536
59.7%Trump1,025
6.6%Johnson114
R+28.5
R+22.6
R+30.6
1,717
R
45.7%Obama767
51.5%Romney865
2.7%
R+5.8
R+11.9
R+9.7
1,678
D
51.8%Obama907
45.7%McCain800
2.6%
D+6.1
D+23.2
R+1.2
1,752
R
40.5%Kerry778
57.6%Bush1,107
1.9%
R+17.1
D+1.6
R+14.7
1,922
R
37.3%Gore687
56.0%Bush1,031
2.7%Nader49
R+18.7
R+23.3
R+19.2
1,840
D
46.0%Clinton827
41.4%Dole745
11.5%Perot206
D+4.6
D+5.6
R+4.0
1,799
R
38.1%Clinton841
39.2%Bush864
22.0%Perot486
R+1.0
R+4.3
R+6.6
2,206
D
51.3%Dukakis1,151
48.1%Bush1,078
0.6%
D+3.3
D+19.9
D+11.0
2,243
R
40.8%Mondale1,026
57.5%Reagan1,445
1.7%
R+16.7
D+17.4
D+1.5
2,513
R
28.0%Carter726
62.1%Reagan1,611
9.9%
R+34.1
R+43.2
R+24.4
2,595
D
53.4%Carter1,610
44.3%Ford1,336
2.3%
D+9.1
D+17.9
D+7.0
3,015
R
44.8%McGovern1,358
53.7%Nixon1,625
1.5%
R+8.8
R+7.3
D+14.3
3,028
R
46.7%Humphrey1,477
48.3%Nixon1,526
5.0%
R+1.5
R+34.6
R+0.9
3,162
D
66.5%Johnson2,186
33.5%Goldwater1,101
0.0%
D+33.0
D+37.1
D+10.4
3,287
R
47.9%Kennedy1,783
52.0%Nixon1,934
0.1%
R+4.1
R+3.3
R+4.2
3,719
R
49.6%Stevenson1,794
50.3%Eisenhower1,821
0.1%
R+0.7
D+25.7
D+14.7
3,617
R
36.5%Stevenson1,418
63.0%Eisenhower2,443
0.5%
R+26.4
R+25.2
R+15.7
3,880
R
46.0%Truman1,629
47.3%Dewey1,672
6.7%
R+1.2
R+13.4
R+5.7
3,538
D
55.9%Roosevelt1,925
43.8%Dewey1,506
0.3%
D+12.2
R+1.2
D+4.7
3,441
D
56.4%Roosevelt2,435
43.1%Willkie1,859
0.5%
D+13.3
R+30.1
D+3.4
4,316
D
65.8%Roosevelt2,954
22.3%Landon1,002
11.9%
D+43.5
R+10.3
D+19.2
4,491
D
76.9%Roosevelt3,176
23.1%Hoover956
0.0%
D+53.7
D+74.7
D+35.9
4,132
R
39.3%Smith1,542
60.2%Hoover2,364
0.6%
R+20.9
D+23.2
R+3.5
3,928
R
5.1%Davis175
49.2%Coolidge1,697
45.5%La Follette1,571
R+44.1
D+26.8
R+19.0
3,449
R
13.5%Cox501
84.5%Harding3,127
2.0%
R+71.0
R+63.3
R+44.8
3,701
R
43.3%Wilson861
51.0%Hughes1,013
5.7%
R+7.6
R+12.2
R+10.8
1,987
O
30.9%Wilson526
26.3%Taft448
42.7%
Roosevelt +11.8
D+36.3
R+15.0
1,701
R
32.1%Bryan616
63.8%Taft1,225
4.1%
R+31.7
D+23.1
R+22.2
1,920
R
19.8%Parker340
74.6%Roosevelt1,284
5.6%
R+54.9
R+29.1
R+35.2
1,721
R
35.5%Bryan576
61.2%McKinley994
3.3%
R+25.8
R+24.7
R+18.2
1,623
R
49.4%Bryan603
50.5%McKinley616
0.2%
R+1.1
D+45.0
D+5.0
1,221
O
0.0%Cleveland0
46.1%Harrison460
53.9%
Weaver +7.8
—
R+47.8
998
—
—
—
—
No data
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
No data
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
No data
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
No data
—
—
—
Congressional elections · 3 Senate races
U.S. Senate
Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), Senate. CC-BY 4.0.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Total
2024
R
37.6%657
62.4%1,091
1,748
2022
R
23.9%362
63.5%963
1,517
2018
D
52.9%866
47.1%770
1,636
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net migration over time, and who arrivals are — where they came from and what those places vote
+41 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net +30 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Arrivals reported $61,974 in average income, against $94,227 for residents who stayed — 34% lower. (IRS SOI, 2022–23)
Migration is one input to a place’s political change, not its cause — a shift can also come from residents changing their minds, generational turnover, or turnout. These figures describe the places people moved between; they do not measure how any mover voted.
Domestic migration in Nelson County, ND in Nelson County, ND: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−25
2012
+30
2013
+7
2014
−19
2015
−62
2016
−17
2017
+54
2018
−17
2019
−3
2021
+79
2022
−25
2023
−2
2024
−11
2025
+41
Nelson County's population has declined steadily for decades, leaving fewer than four residents per square mile across its rolling farmland. That rural depopulation pattern tracks closely with its consistent, wide Republican presidential margins.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 53.7 points in 1932 and a Republican high of 71.0 points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved 0.6 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 31.9 points.
A population of 3,016, a 92% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $67,193 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Kingsbury County and Steele County.
Akashic
Political twins — counties
The counties whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
In 2024, Nelson County, North Dakota voted Republican by 31.9 points (R+31.9), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,761 votes cast, 580 went Democratic and 1,141 went Republican.
When did Nelson County, North Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Nelson County, North Dakota voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Nelson County, North Dakota?
Nelson County, North Dakota has a population of 3,016 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Nelson County, North Dakota?
Median household income in Nelson County, North Dakota is $67,193 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Dakota state median is $76,657.
What is the political history of Nelson County, North Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Nelson County, North Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 23 went Republican.
