{"id":5043,"date":"2023-07-03T08:22:17","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T08:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=5043"},"modified":"2026-08-22T12:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T12:02:09","slug":"norman-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/norman-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Norman County, Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Norman County is a county in Minnesota, United States, in the Red River Valley along the North Dakota border. It had a population of 6,441 at the 2020 census and covers 876.73 square miles (2,270.72 km2) centred near 47&deg;20&prime;N 96&deg;28&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Ada is the county seat, and its postal code is 56510. The county has 8 incorporated cities, 8 named unincorporated communities and 24 organized townships. Norman County is in the Central time zone.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Norman County<\/h2>\n<p>Norman County&#8217;s 16 named places split into 8 incorporated cities and 8 unincorporated communities. CDP = census-designated place; Unincorp. = unincorporated community with no municipal government.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ada<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>1,690<\/td>\n<td>56510<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Twin Valley<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>773<\/td>\n<td>56584<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Halstad<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>574<\/td>\n<td>56548<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hendrum<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>337<\/td>\n<td>56550<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gary<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>124<\/td>\n<td>56545<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Shelly<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>190<\/td>\n<td>56581<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perley<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>77<\/td>\n<td>56574<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Borup<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>62<\/td>\n<td>56519<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Flom<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>56541<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Faith<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Betcher<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hadler<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lockhart<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ranum<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Syre<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Waukon<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Population figures above are 2020 census counts for the incorporated cities; the unincorporated communities have no separate census tally. A handful of names from older place lists &mdash; Anderson Trailer Court, Anthony, Flaming, Fossum, Heiberg, Merry Lane MH Park, Rindal, Sundal and Twin Valley MH Park &mdash; are mobile-home parks or informal locality names with no independent record in the county&#8217;s current gazetteer and are omitted here; see notes.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>56510 &mdash; Ada (also serves the surrounding townships)<\/li>\n<li>56584 &mdash; Twin Valley<\/li>\n<li>56548 &mdash; Halstad<\/li>\n<li>56550 &mdash; Hendrum<\/li>\n<li>56545 &mdash; Gary<\/li>\n<li>56581 &mdash; Shelly<\/li>\n<li>56574 &mdash; Perley<\/li>\n<li>56519 &mdash; Borup<\/li>\n<li>56541 &mdash; Flom (PO Box delivery only)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The smaller unincorporated communities &mdash; Faith, Betcher, Hadler, Lockhart, Ranum, Syre and Waukon &mdash; share a ZIP code with the nearest incorporated city rather than carrying their own.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Norman County sits in the flat, fertile Red River Valley, the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz, with the Wild Rice River and Marsh River draining the county toward the Red River of the North on its western edge. Cropland covers most of the county; the eastern townships rise gently toward the Buffalo Ridge moraine.<\/p>\n<p>The county borders Polk County to the north (<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/polk-county-minnesota\/\">Polk County, Minnesota<\/a>), Mahnomen County to the east, Becker County to the southeast, Clay County to the south (<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/clay-county-minnesota\/\">Clay County, Minnesota<\/a>), Cass County, North Dakota to the southwest (<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/cass-county-north-dakota\/\">Cass County, North Dakota<\/a>), and Traill County, North Dakota to the west.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Norman County had 6,441 residents at the 2020 census. Ada, the largest community, and Twin Valley, the second largest, together hold roughly 38% of the county&#8217;s population. The county&#8217;s median household income trails the Minnesota median of $85,086, running closer to the high-$60,000s, consistent with its farming-dependent economy. Population density is about 7.4 people per square mile, among the more sparsely settled counties in western Minnesota.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Agriculture drives Norman County&#8217;s economy &mdash; sugar beets, wheat, soybeans and corn dominate the valley&#8217;s flat black soil. Ada serves as the county&#8217;s retail, grain-elevator and government hub, and the county fair held there each summer is the area&#8217;s largest annual gathering.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Norman County was organized on November 8, 1881, carved from Polk County. It was named for the many Norwegian and other Scandinavian settlers who homesteaded the Red River Valley in that era. The county originally extended east to include what became Mahnomen County until that territory split off in 1906. Ada, platted in 1874 before the county itself existed, has served as county seat since organization.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Highway 75 runs north&ndash;south through Ada, Halstad and Perley, and Minnesota Highway 200 crosses the county east&ndash;west through Ada. The nearest commercial airport is Hector International Airport in Fargo, North Dakota, roughly 55 miles to the southwest.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fargo, North Dakota &mdash; about 55 miles southwest<\/li>\n<li>Moorhead, Minnesota &mdash; about 45 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Grand Forks, North Dakota &mdash; about 60 miles northwest<\/li>\n<li>Detroit Lakes, Minnesota &mdash; about 35 miles east<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Norman County?<\/strong><br \/>It sits in the Red River Valley of northwestern Minnesota, along the North Dakota border.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Norman County?<\/strong><br \/>6,441 as of the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Norman County?<\/strong><br \/>876.73 square miles (2,270.72 km2), of which 872.79 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Norman County?<\/strong><br \/>Ada is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Norman County?<\/strong><br \/>Eight incorporated cities &mdash; Ada, Borup, Gary, Halstad, Hendrum, Perley, Shelly and Twin Valley &mdash; plus several unincorporated communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Norman County?<\/strong><br \/>56510 (Ada), 56519 (Borup), 56541 (Flom), 56545 (Gary), 56548 (Halstad), 56550 (Hendrum), 56574 (Perley), 56581 (Shelly) and 56584 (Twin Valley).<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Norman County&#8217;s main industry?<\/strong><br \/>Agriculture &mdash; sugar beets, wheat, soybeans and corn grown in the Red River Valley&#8217;s black soil.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/minnesota\/\">Towns and villages in Minnesota<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Norman County is a county in Minnesota, United States, in the Red River Valley along the North Dakota border. It had a population of 6,441 at the 2020 census and covers 876.73 square miles (2,270.72 km2) centred near 47&deg;20&prime;N 96&deg;28&prime;W. Ada is the county seat, and its postal code is 56510. The county has 8 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Norman County, Minnesota","_seopress_titles_desc":"Norman County, Minnesota: population, ZIP codes, cities and towns from Ada to Twin Valley, geography, history and getting there.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-5043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-minnesota","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5043"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11505,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5043\/revisions\/11505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}