Grant County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,301. The county seat is Carson and the largest city is Elgin.
The territory of Grant County was part of Morton County until 1916. On November 7 the county voters determined that the SW portion of the county would be partitioned off to form a new county, to be named after Ulysses S. Grant, the US President from 1869 to 1877. Accordingly, the county government was organized on November 28, with Carson as the seat. The county's boundaries have remained unchanged since its creation.
The Heart River flows eastward through the upper part of Grant County, and Cedar Creek flows east-northeastward along the county's southern boundary line. The county terrain consists of isolated hills among rolling hills, carved by drainages. The semi-arid ground is partially devoted to agriculture. The terrain slopes to the east and south; its highest point is a rise near its southwestern corner, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water. Lake Tschida, a Bureau of Reclamation reservoir and recreation area on the Heart River, is the county's largest body of water.
The southwestern corner of North Dakota observes Mountain Time (Adams, Billings, Bowman, Golden Valley, Grant, Hettinger, Slope, and Stark counties). The counties of McKenzie, Dunn, and Sioux counties are split, with the western portions of each observing Mountain Time.
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As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Grant County was $90,910.
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 2,301. Of the residents, 18.1% were under the age of 18 and 31.6% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 53.1 years. For every 100 females there were 103.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 105.1 males.
The racial makeup of the county was 94.6% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 1.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% from some other race, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.1% of the population.
There were 1,028 households in the county, of which 20.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 19.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 1,649 housing units, of which 37.7% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 83.4% were owner-occupied and 16.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 22.3%.
As of the census of 2010, there were 2,394 people, 1,128 households, and 694 families in the county. The population density was . There were 1,690 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.2% white, 1.1% American Indian, 0.1% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 66.6% were German, 14.0% were Norwegian, 12.5% were Russian, 5.9% were Irish, 5.5% were English, and 2.2% were American.
Of the 1,128 households, 19.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.7% were married couples living together, 3.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.5% were non-families, and 36.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.72. The median age was 51.7 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $39,500 and the median income for a family was $53,542. Males had a median income of $33,750 versus $27,303 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,840. About 7.3% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.1% of those under age 18 and 18.7% of those age 65 or over.
Grant County voters have traditionally voted Republican. In no national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate.