Fargo–Moorhead, also known as the FM area, is a common name given to the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

comprising

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

; Moorhead, Minnesota; and the surrounding communities. These two cities lie on the North Dakota– Minnesota border, on opposite banks of the Red River of the North. The region is the cultural, retail, health care, educational, and industrial center of southeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. The Fargo–Moorhead area is defined by the Census Bureau as comprising all of Cass County, North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota, which includes the cities of

Dilworth, MN Dilworth is a city in Clay County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,612 at the time of the 2020 census. Dilworth is one of the core cities of the Fargo–Moorhead metro area; it is on the eastern border of Moorhead. Dilworth is ho ...

West Fargo, ND West Fargo is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. It is, as of the 2020 census, the fifth largest city in the state of North Dakota with a population of 38,626, and it is one of the state's fastest growing cities. West Fargo wa ...

, and numerous other towns and developments from which commuters travel daily for work, education, and regular activities. A July 1, 2015 census estimate placed the population at 233,836, an increase of 34% from the 2000 census.

Communities

Core cities

* Moorhead, Minnesota * West Fargo, North Dakota *

Dilworth, Minnesota Dilworth is a city in Clay County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,612 at the time of the 2020 census. Dilworth is one of the core cities of the Fargo–Moorhead metro area; it is on the eastern border of Moorhead. Dilworth is ...

Suburbs/Adjacent towns

Briarwood, North Dakota Briarwood is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 57 at the 2020 census. Briarwood was founded in 1973. It is a suburb directly adjacent to the city of Fargo. Geography Briarwood is located at (46.786481, -96 ...

Frontier, North Dakota Frontier is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 195 at the 2020 census. Frontier is located south of the city of Fargo and is located roughly six miles southwest of that city's downtown. Frontier was founded i ...

* Harwood, North Dakota * Horace, North Dakota * Mapleton, North Dakota *

North River, North Dakota North River is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 55 at the 2020 census. North River was founded in 1973. It is a suburb/ bedroom community directly adjacent to the city of Fargo. Geography North River is lo ...

Prairie Rose, North Dakota Prairie Rose is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 56 at the 2020 census. The city is an enclave suburb of Fargo. Prairie Rose was founded in 1975. There are 21 homes in the city. There was an effort to merg ...

Reile's Acres, North Dakota Reile's Acres is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 703 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Fargo. Reile's Acres was founded in 1977. History On February 22, 1977, at 9:30, Reile's Acres was incorporated ...

* Sabin, Minnesota Moorhead Concordia College IMG 0694

Bedroom communities

Barnesville, Minnesota Barnesville is a city and Fargo-Moorhead bedroom community in Clay County, Minnesota, Clay County, Minnesota, United States. The population is 2,759 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ''Barnesville Potato Days'' is held there annuall ...

Casselton, North Dakota Casselton is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 2,479 at the 2020 census. making it the 20th largest city in North Dakota. Casselton was founded in 1876. The city is named in honor of George Washington Cas ...

Davenport, North Dakota Davenport is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 256 at the 2020 census. Davenport was founded in 1882. History Davenport was platted in 1882 when the railroad was extended to that point. The city was named fo ...

Glyndon, Minnesota Glyndon is a city in Clay County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,306 as of the 2020 census. History Glyndon was platted in 1872 when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office has been in operation in Glyndon sinc ...

Hawley, Minnesota Hawley is a town in Clay County, Minnesota, Clay County, Minnesota, United States, along the Buffalo River (Minnesota), Buffalo River. The population was 2,219 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town went through six quick name ...

* Hickson, North Dakota * Kindred, North Dakota *

Leonard, North Dakota Leonard is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 248 at the 2020 census. Leonard was founded in 1881. History Leonard got its start in 1881 when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office has been i ...

* Oxbow, North Dakota * Walcott, North Dakota

Demographics

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Age

According to the

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

, the age distribution was as follows: * Under 5 years: 6.8% * 5–9 years: 6.1% * 10–14 years: 5.9% * 15–19 years: 8.0% * 20–24 years: 11.9% * 25–34 years: 16.0% * 35–44 years: 12.8% * 45–54 years: 13.2% * 55–59 years: 5.1% * 60–64 years: 3.7% * 65–74 years: 4.9% * 75–84 years: 3.7% * 85 years and over: 1.8% * Median age: 31.6 years

Race

According to the same survey, the racial composition was as follows: * White: 93.3% ( Non-Hispanic Whites: 92.0%) * Black or African American: 1.6% * American Indian: 1.4% * Asian: 1.4% *

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian an ...

: 0.1% * Some other race: 0.8% * Two or more races: 1.4% * Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 2.5% There were 3,032 African Americans, who made up 1.6% of the population. The Asian American population is not dominated by a single ancestry group, and is fairly diverse. The largest Asian American group are those of Chinese descent, who number at 928 and make up 0.5% of the population. Other sizable groups include

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, Vietnamese, and Koreans, who number at 393, 379, and 360 respectively; all three groups comprise roughly 0.2% of the population. There are 134 Filipinos, making up roughly 0.1% of the population. People of Japanese descent were very few, with only 40 people identifying themselves as Japanese; they make up a mere 0.02% of the population. Pacific Islander Americans numbered at 119, and made up approximately 0.06% of the population. Multiracial Americans make up 1.4% of the metro area's population. Those of white and Native American ancestry made up 0.5% of the population, and numbered at 938. People of white and Asian ancestry numbered at 557, and those of white and black ancestry numbered at 571. Both groupings made up roughly 0.3% of the population. Approximately 72 people identified themselves as black and Native American. Hispanics and Latinos are the largest minority group in Fargo–Moorhead. Hispanics and Latinos make up 2.5% of the population, of which 2.0% are of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

descent. Of the 4,786 Hispanics, 3,846 are Mexican. There were 196

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants. Overview The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...

and 136 Cubans; both of these groups made up roughly 0.1% of the population. In addition, 608 individuals identified themselves with other Hispanic or Latino groups other than Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban, making up 0.3% of the population. The Native American population is predominantly Ojibwe, with a

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

minority. Of the 2,679 Native Americans, 1,447 are of the Chippewa tribal grouping. The Chippewa alone make up 0.8% of the population. The 444 Sioux make up 0.2% of the population. In addition, 20 people identified themselves as a member of the Cherokee tribal grouping. NOTE: The source above contains all of the information on population, age, and race.

Ancestry

The

European American European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...

population is overwhelmingly German and Scandinavian. Most of the Scandinavian population is of Norwegian descent. Smaller Euro-American groups include those of English, Irish, and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

descent. As of the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, the top ten largest European ancestry groups were the following: * German: 42.9% (82,398) * Norwegian: 36.4% (69,964) * Irish: 8.6% (16,589) *

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: 6.6% (12,641) * English: 4.8% (9,286) *

: 4.3% (8,283) * Polish: 3.2% (6,180) * Russian: 2.0% (3,783) * Czech: 1.6% (3,047) *

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

: 1.5% (2,871)

Language spoken at home

* Population 5 years and over: 179,175 * English only: 93.6% (167,729) * Language other than English: 6.4% (11,446) * Spanish: 2.1% (3,771) * Other Indo-European languages: 2.5% (4,393) * Asian and Pacific Islander languages: 0.9% (1,659) * Other languages: 0.9% (1,623) NOTE: The source above contains all of the information on ancestry and language.

Politics

The Fargo–Moorhead area has generally leaned Republican, voting for that party's presidential candidate in every election between

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. While Clay County is a

swing county In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pres ...

which has voted for Democrats 9 times and Republicans 7 times since

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, Cass County has only voted Democratic twice: for Lyndon B. Johnson in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

and Barack Obama in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. In recent years, however, Fargo–Moorhead has become very competitive. In 2008, it voted for Obama by a nearly-10-point margin, followed by just 0.2% in 2012. In 2016, it flipped Republican once again, voting for Donald Trump by 8 points, and it voted for Trump again in 2020, albeit by a narrow margin of less than a percentage point.

Culture

Fargo/Wahpeton CSA

The Census Bureau also tracks a Fargo–Wahpeton Combined Statistical Area, consisting of Cass and Clay counties, as well as the Wahpeton micropolitan area of Richland County, North Dakota and Wilkin County, Minnesota. This area includes the twin cities of Wahpeton, North Dakota and Breckenridge, Minnesota. The Fargo–Moorhead urban core is actually about forty-five minutes of highway travel from the Wahpeton–Breckenridge core. The main connection between these two pairs of cities is the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

, the flat, fertile land that both depend upon for a major part of their economies. Potatoes and sugar beets are important crops in the region, in addition to most of the other crops produced elsewhere in Minnesota and North Dakota.

References

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