Fargo is a city located in Cass County North Dakota. Fargo has a 2023 population of 128,557. It is also the county seat of Cass County.Fargo is currently growing at a rate of 0.71% annually and its population has increased by 2.15% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 125,853 in 2020.
The average household income in Fargo is $82,974 with a poverty rate of 12.95%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to - per month, and the median house value is -. The median age in Fargo is 31.5 years, 31.5 years for males, and 31.6 years for females.
Fargo is the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota and the largest city in the state, accounting for almost 16% of North Dakota's population.
Fargo -- along with Moorhead, Minnesota; West Fargo, North Dakota, and Dilworth, Minnesota -- make up the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area, which has a population of 229,000.
The average age in Fargo is 30 years with 19% of people under the age of 18. About 16% of people in Fargo live below the poverty line. The Fargo-Moorhead metro area is even less diverse with a white population of more than 93%.
The Asian population in the Fargo metro area is somewhat diverse. People of Chinese descent account for 0.5% of the community as the largest Asian American group, followed by Indians, Vietnamese, Koreans, and Filipinos. Hispanics and Latinos are the most significant minority in the metropolitan area at 2.5% of the population, of which most are Mexican with small groups of Puerto Ricans and Cubans.
North Dakota as a whole has one of the least diverse populations among U.S. states. Black, Hispanic, and Asian people each account for less than 2% of the population while Native Americans represent the largest minority at 5.4% of North Dakota's population.
The most common ancestry groups in Fargo include German (41%), Norwegian (36%), Irish (9%), Swedish (6.5%), English (5%), French (4.7%), and Italian (3.5%).
Forbes recently ranked Fargo as the 4th fastest-growing small city in the country with a population growth of almost 28% between 2000 and 2013 and job growth of more than 28% between 2001 and 2014.
In 2011, North Dakota had the country's lowest unemployment rate following a decade of prosperity. Fargo hit a record high of 105,550 people in 2011, while its neighbor, West Fargo, reached 25,800 people. Fargo continues its steady growth because the housing boom (and bust) missed it completely.
Fargo and North Dakota as a whole have trouble attracting new residents in large part due to the area's extreme temperatures, with average temperatures in January below zero. The state often hosts job fairs in other states to match people with jobs in the region.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Fargo was:
2.92
Average Family Size
2.15
Average Household Size
44.7%
Rate of Home Ownership
Married
Male
Female
NonFamily
owner
renter
Only English
Spanish
Other Indo-European Languages
Asian and Pacific Island Languages
Other Languages
89.53% of Fargo residents speak only English, while 10.47% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Other Indo-European, which is spoken by 3.71% of the population.
12.95%
Overall Poverty Rate
12.07%
Male Poverty Rate
13.83%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Fargo is Native, with 48.19% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Fargo is Other, with 5.71% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 3.4%. Among those working part-time, it was 24.59%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 19.19%.
Married
Widowed
Divorced
Separated
NeverMarried
43.4%
Overall Marriage Rate
42.5%
Male Marriage Rate
44.3%
Female Marriage Rate
male
female
The age group where males are most likely to be married is Over 65, while the female age group most likely to be married is 35-44.
Married
Widowed
Divorced
Separated
NeverMarried
Less Than 9th Grade
High School Graduate
Some College
Bachelors or Greater
4.4%
Veteran Poverty Rate
33.37%
Veteran Disability Rate
LaborForceParticipation
75.5%
Labor Force Participation
72.3%
Employment Rate
3.8%
Unemployment Rate
LaborForceParticipation
LaborForceParticipation
Europe
Asia
Africa
Oceania
Latin America
North America
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
Europe
Asia
Africa
Oceania
Latin America
North America
49.56%
Born in Fargo
88.82%
Native Born
9.78%
Foreign Born
6.06%
Non Citizen
3.72%
Naturalized
88.82% of Fargo residents were born in the United States, with 49.56% having been born in North Dakota. 6.06% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Africa.