Benson County is a county in North Dakota, United States, on the western shore of Devils Lake in the north-central part of the state. It had a population of 5,964 at the 2020 census and covers 1,439 square miles (3,728 km2) centred near 48°04′N 99°21′W.<\/p>\n
Minnewaukan is the county seat, and its postal code is 58351. The county has 9 incorporated cities, more than a dozen unincorporated communities, and 39 organized civil townships. Benson County sits in the Central time zone, and much of its southern and eastern territory overlaps the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation, home to the Spirit Lake Tribe (Dakota Sioux).<\/p>\n
North Dakota law recognises a single class of incorporated municipality — the “city” — regardless of size, so Minnewaukan, Maddock and York carry the same legal status as the county’s smallest incorporated places. Alongside the 9 cities, the list below keeps the unincorporated communities and reservation settlements that appear in the county’s historical gazetteer; places with no verified 2020 population are marked with a dash rather than a guess.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnewaukan<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58351<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Maddock<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58348<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Leeds<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58346<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| York<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58386<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Warwick<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58381<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Esmond<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58332<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Oberon<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58357<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Knox<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58343<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Brinsmade<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Fort Totten<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58335<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Saint Michael<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58370<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Tokio<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 58379<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Fillmore<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Pleasant Lake<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Tilden<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Baker<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Comstock<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Flora<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Harlow<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hesper<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Isabel<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Josephine<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lallie<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Niles<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Fort Totten and Saint Michael are agency and church settlements on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation rather than platted townsites, which is why neither ever incorporated despite carrying their own ZIP codes. Several of the smaller names on the list — Baker, Comstock, Fillmore, Flora, Harlow, Hesper, Isabel, Josephine, Niles and Tilden — are historic rail sidings or post-office stations that no longer have an active ZIP or a verifiable population; they are kept here because they persist in the county’s place-name record.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nBrinsmade and the county’s smaller historic communities have no dedicated ZIP code of their own; mail there is handled through the nearest post-office town above.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nBenson County lies on a rolling glacial plain dotted with lakes, ponds and drainage sloughs, rising to about 1,624 feet along its western edge. Devils Lake, North Dakota’s largest natural lake, forms much of the county’s eastern boundary, and the White Horse Hill National Game Preserve sits within the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in the county’s southeast. The county is bordered by Towner County to the north, Ramsey County<\/a> to the northeast, Nelson County<\/a> to the east, Eddy County<\/a> to the southeast, Wells County<\/a> to the southwest, and Pierce County<\/a> to the west.<\/p>\n Benson County had a population of 5,964 at the 2020 census, spread across roughly four residents per square mile. Maddock and Minnewaukan are the county’s two largest communities. Median household income in the county runs well below the North Dakota median of $76,525, reflecting a rural, reservation-heavy economic base with a smaller working-age tax roll than the state’s oil-patch counties.<\/p>\n Small-grain and cattle farming anchor the local economy, alongside services tied to the Spirit Lake Nation, whose tribal government and Cankdeska Cikana Community College campus are based at Fort Totten. Grain elevators along the BNSF line at Maddock and Leeds still move wheat, durum, barley and canola to market, and the Spirit Lake Casino & Resort on the Devils Lake shoreline is one of the county’s larger employers.<\/p>\n The Dakota Territory legislature created Benson County on March 9, 1883, naming it for Bertil W. Benson, a territorial legislator; the county government organized on June 4, 1884, and its boundaries were adjusted twice more in 1885. Much of the county’s southern half was carved out of the Fort Totten (Devils Lake) Indian Reservation, established in 1867 for the Sisseton and Wahpeton Dakota bands who make up today’s Spirit Lake Nation. Rising Devils Lake water levels flooded thousands of acres of county farmland through the 1990s and 2000s before the lake’s level stabilized in the following decade.<\/p>\n U.S. Routes 2 and 281 and North Dakota Highways 19, 20 and 57 cross the county.<\/p>\n The nearest commercial airport is Devils Lake Regional Airport, with fuller service at Minot International Airport.<\/p>\n Where is Benson County, North Dakota?<\/strong> What is the population of Benson County?<\/strong> How big is Benson County?<\/strong> What is the Benson County seat?<\/strong> How many towns are in Benson County?<\/strong> |