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 consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

comprising

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

;

Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Minnesota, Clay County, Minnesota, United States, on the banks of the Red River of the North. Located in the Red River Valley, an extremely fertile and active agricultural region, Moo ...

; and the surrounding communities. These two cities lie on the

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

–

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

border, on opposite banks of the

Red River of the North The Red River (), also called the Red River of the North () to differentiate it from the Red River of the South, Red River in the south of the continent, is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confl ...

. 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 The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

as comprising all of

Cass County, North Dakota Cass County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 184,525, making it the most populous county in North Dakota, and was estimated to be 200,945 in 2024. It contains over 25.23% of the state' ...

and

Clay County, Minnesota Clay County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,318, and was estimated to be 66,848 in 2024, Its county seat is Moorhead. Clay County is part of the Fargo, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistic ...

, which includes the cities of Dilworth, Minnesota, West Fargo, North Dakota, and numerous other towns and developments from which commuters travel daily for work, education, and regular activities. A July 1, 2024 census estimate placed the population at 267,793, an increase of 7.2% from the 2020 census, an increase of 28.3% from the 2010 census, and an increase of 53.6% from the 2000 census.

Communities

Core cities

* West Fargo, North Dakota * Dilworth, Minnesota

Suburbs/Adjacent towns

* Briarwood, North Dakota * Frontier, North Dakota * Harwood, North Dakota * Horace, North Dakota * North River, North Dakota * Prairie Rose, North Dakota * Reile's Acres, North Dakota Moorhead Concordia College IMG 0694

Bedroom communities

* Barnesville, Minnesota * Sabin, Minnesota * Mapleton, North Dakota * Casselton, North Dakota * Davenport, North Dakota * Glyndon, Minnesota * Hawley, Minnesota * Hickson, North Dakota * Kindred, North Dakota * Leonard, North Dakota * Oxbow, North Dakota * Walcott, North Dakota

Demographics

Population by decade

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.55,0.0,0.0) id:darkblue value:rgb(0.0,0.0,0.8) ImageSize = width:850 height:425 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:267800 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:66950 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:33475 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1860 text:1860 bar:1870 text:1870 bar:1880 text:1880 bar:1890 text:1890 bar:1900 text:1900 bar:1910 text:1910 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1980 text:1980 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2024 text:present PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1860 from: 0 till:72 bar:1870 from: 0 till:92 bar:1880 from: 0 till:14885 bar:1890 from: 0 till:31130 bar:1900 from: 0 till:46567 bar:1910 from: 0 till:53575 bar:1920 from: 0 till:63257 bar:1930 from: 0 till:71885 bar:1940 from: 0 till:78186 bar:1950 from: 0 till:89240 bar:1960 from: 0 till:106027 bar:1970 from: 0 till:120238 bar:1980 from: 0 till:137574 bar:1990 from: 0 till:153296 bar:2000 from: 0 till:174367 bar:2010 from: 0 till:208777 bar:2020 from: 0 till:249843 bar:2024 from: 0 till:267793 color:darkblue PlotData= bar:1860 at:72 fontsize:M text:72 shift:(-21,7) bar:1870 at:92 fontsize:M text:92 shift:(-21,7) bar:1880 at:14885 fontsize:M text:14,885 shift:(-21,7) bar:1890 at:31130 fontsize:M text:31,130 shift:(-21,7) bar:1900 at:46567 fontsize:M text:46,567 shift:(-21,7) bar:1910 at:53575 fontsize:M text:53,575 shift:(-21,7) bar:1920 at:63257 fontsize:M text:63,257 shift:(-21,7) bar:1930 at:71885 fontsize:M text:71,885 shift:(-21,7) bar:1940 at:78186 fontsize:M text:78,186 shift:(-21,7) bar:1950 at:89240 fontsize:M text:89,240 shift:(-21,7) bar:1960 at:106027 fontsize:M text:106,027 shift:(-21,7) bar:1970 at:120238 fontsize:M text:120,238 shift:(-21,7) bar:1980 at:137574 fontsize:M text:137,574 shift:(-21,7) bar:1990 at:153296 fontsize:M text:153,296 shift:(-21,7) bar:2000 at:174367 fontsize:M text:174,367 shift:(-21,7) bar:2010 at:208777 fontsize:M text:208,777 shift:(-21,7) bar:2020 at:249843 fontsize:M text:249,843 shift:(-21,7) bar:2024 at:267793 fontsize:M text:267,793 shift:(-21,7) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Age

According to the

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, 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 White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

: 93.3% (

Non-Hispanic Whites Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

: 92.0%) * Black or

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

: 1.6% * American Indian: 1.4% * Asian: 1.4% * Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 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, Vietnamese, and

Koreans Koreans are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. The majority of Koreans live in the two Korean sovereign states of North and South Korea, which are collectively referred to as Korea. As of 2021, an estimated 7.3 m ...

, who number at 393, 379, and 360 respectively; all three groups comprise roughly 0.2% of the population. There are 134

Filipinos Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino language, Filipino, Philippine English, English, or other Philippine language ...

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

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...

and 136

Cubans Cubans () are the citizens and nationals of Cuba. The Cuban people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish. The larger Cuban diaspora includes individuals that trace ancestry to Cuba and self-identify as Cuban but are n ...

; 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 The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

, with a

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

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 The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

tribal grouping. NOTE: The source above contains all of the information on population, age, and race.

Ancestry

The

European American European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

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 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: 6.6% (12,641) * English: 4.8% (9,286) * French: 4.3% (8,283) * Polish: 3.2% (6,180) * Russian: 2.0% (3,783) *

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

: 1.6% (3,047) * Scottish: 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 The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

: 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 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

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 60 ...

. While Clay County is a swing county 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 * Janu ...

, Cass County has only voted Democratic twice: for

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

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 Patria ...

and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. 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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

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 The Wahpeton Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties – one in southeast North Dakota and one in west central Minnesota, anchored by the city of Wahpeton, North Dak ...

Richland County, North Dakota Richland County is a County (United States), county in the far southeast corner of the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 16,529, and was estimated to be 16,658 in 2024. The county s ...

and

Wilkin County, Minnesota Wilkin County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Wilkin County was 6,506. Its county seat is Breckenridge, Minnesota, Breckenridge. The county ...

. 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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