{"id":6740,"date":"2023-08-17T08:25:31","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T08:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=6740"},"modified":"2026-08-16T19:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T19:08:29","slug":"mercer-county-north-dakota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mercer-county-north-dakota\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercer County, North Dakota"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mercer County is a county in North Dakota, United States, bordered on its north by Lake Sakakawea, the reservoir formed by the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River. It had a population of 8,350 at the 2020 census and covers 1,113 square miles (2,882 km2), of which 70 square miles (181 km2) is water, centred near 47\u00b018\u203226\u2033N 101\u00b050\u203200\u2033W.<\/p>\n<p>Stanton is the county seat, and its postal code is 58571. The county has six incorporated cities and three unorganized territories (East Mercer, Fort Berthold, and West Mercer, all census county subdivisions rather than towns). Mercer County observes Central Time, a switch made in 2010 from Mountain Time to match its economic ties east toward Bismarck.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Mercer County<\/h2>\n<p>All six incorporated places in Mercer County are legally chartered as cities under North Dakota law, regardless of size &mdash; the state does not use a separate &#8220;town&#8221; or &#8220;village&#8221; designation. Beulah is the county&#8217;s largest city; Stanton, much smaller, is the seat because it sits centrally on the Knife River near the county&#8217;s original townsite. One additional place, Truax, appears on older maps as a small unincorporated rail community and is included below though it has no reported 2020 population.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Beulah<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>3,058<\/td>\n<td>58523<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hazen<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>2,281<\/td>\n<td>58545<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stanton<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>368<\/td>\n<td>58571<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Zap<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>221<\/td>\n<td>58580<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Golden Valley<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>191<\/td>\n<td>58541<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pick City<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>123<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Truax<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>58523 &mdash; Beulah<\/li>\n<li>58545 &mdash; Hazen<\/li>\n<li>58571 &mdash; Stanton<\/li>\n<li>58580 &mdash; Zap<\/li>\n<li>58541 &mdash; Golden Valley<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pick City and the unincorporated community of Truax have no dedicated ZIP code of their own; mail there is typically handled through a neighboring post office.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Mercer County lies in north-central North Dakota on rolling agricultural terrain that gives way to the broken Missouri River breaks along its northern edge. Lake Sakakawea forms the county&#8217;s entire northern boundary, and the Knife River crosses the interior on its way to a Missouri River confluence just east of the county line. The county borders <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mclean-county-north-dakota\/\">McLean County<\/a> to the north, Oliver County to the east, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/morton-county-north-dakota\/\">Morton County<\/a> to the south, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/stark-county-north-dakota\/\">Stark County<\/a> to the southwest, and Dunn County to the west.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Mercer County&#8217;s 2020 census population was 8,350, up slightly from prior decades. Beulah (3,058) and Hazen (2,281) are the two largest communities and together hold more than two-thirds of the county&#8217;s residents. County-level median household income has not been independently verified for this page; North Dakota&#8217;s statewide median is $76,525 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 8 people per square mile of land, reflecting the county&#8217;s rural, agriculture- and energy-driven economy.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Coal mining and coal-fired power generation anchor the local economy: Beulah and Hazen sit atop lignite deposits that supply nearby generating stations, and the industry is the county&#8217;s largest private employer base. Agriculture, chiefly small grains and cattle ranching, remains important on the county&#8217;s rolling uplands, and Lake Sakakawea draws recreational fishing and boating traffic to the Pick City\/Riverdale area near the Garrison Dam. Beulah and Hazen each serve as local trade centers for surrounding farm and ranch families, with schools, grain elevators, and small-town main streets that anchor community life outside the lakeshore recreation season.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Mercer County government was officially organized on November 6, 1883. It is named for William Henry Harrison Mercer (1844&ndash;1901), a rancher who settled north of Bismarck in 1869. The county&#8217;s modern character was reshaped in the mid-20th century by the construction of the Garrison Dam and the filling of Lake Sakakawea, which submerged the original Missouri River bottomlands and shifted development toward the reservoir shoreline. The county moved from Mountain to Central Time in 2010, aligning its clock with Bismarck and the rest of central North Dakota rather than the state&#8217;s western counties.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>North Dakota highways 31, 48, 49, 200, 200A, and 1806 cross the county, linking its cities to the regional network.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bismarck &mdash; about 40 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Dickinson &mdash; about 60 miles southwest<\/li>\n<li>Minot &mdash; about 90 miles north<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bismarck Airport is the nearest commercial airport with scheduled service.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Mercer County, North Dakota?<\/strong><br \/>It is in north-central North Dakota, bordered on the north by Lake Sakakawea, roughly 40 miles northwest of Bismarck.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Mercer County?<\/strong><br \/>8,350 at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Mercer County?<\/strong><br \/>1,113 square miles (2,882 km2), of which 70 square miles is water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Mercer County?<\/strong><br \/>Stanton is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Mercer County?<\/strong><br \/>Six incorporated cities &mdash; Beulah, Golden Valley, Hazen, Pick City, Stanton, and Zap &mdash; plus the unincorporated community of Truax.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Mercer County?<\/strong><br \/>58523 (Beulah), 58541 (Golden Valley), 58545 (Hazen), 58571 (Stanton), and 58580 (Zap).<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Mercer County&#8217;s largest city?<\/strong><br \/>Beulah, with a 2020 population of 3,058, is larger than the county seat, Stanton.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/north-dakota\/\">Towns and villages in North Dakota<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mercer County is a county in North Dakota, United States, bordered on its north by Lake Sakakawea, the reservoir formed by the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River. It had a population of 8,350 at the 2020 census and covers 1,113 square miles (2,882 km2), of which 70 square miles (181 km2) is water, centred [&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 Mercer County, North Dakota","_seopress_titles_desc":"Mercer County, ND: population, ZIP codes, cities Beulah, Hazen, Stanton, Zap, Golden Valley, Pick City, geography, economy, and history.","_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":[41],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-6740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-north-dakota","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\/6740","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=6740"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10313,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6740\/revisions\/10313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}