Hettinger County vs Nelson County

A side-by-side comparison of Hettinger County and Nelson County: population, income, housing, and more.

Hettinger County and Nelson County are counties in North Dakota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Nelson County has the higher population (3,015 vs 2,453 in Hettinger County). Hettinger County has the higher median household income ($70,827 vs $68,051 in Nelson County). Nelson County has the higher median home value ($114,500 vs $110,900 in Hettinger County).

Population, income & housing

	Hettinger County	Nelson County
Population	2,453	3,015
Median age	42.6 yrs	50.4 yrs
Median household income	$70,827	$68,051
Median home value	$110,900	$114,500
Median gross rent	$830	$593
Housing units	1,438	1,798
Homeownership rate	79.7%	76.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.7%	28.2%
Unemployment rate	6.1%	1.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hettinger County	Nelson County
Population	2,547 → 2,453 (-3.7%)	2,894 → 3,015 (+4.2%)
Median household income	$60,164 → $70,827 (+17.7%)	$52,039 → $68,051 (+30.8%)
Median home value	$111,200 → $110,900 (-0.3%)	$84,300 → $114,500 (+35.8%)
Median gross rent	$672 → $830 (+23.5%)	$522 → $593 (+13.6%)

Hettinger County

Population

2,5472,453

Median household income

$60,164$70,827

Median home value

$111,200$110,900

Median gross rent

$672$830

Nelson County

Population

2,8943,015

Median household income

$52,039$68,051

Median home value

$84,300$114,500

Median gross rent

$522$593

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Hettinger County	Nelson County
Under 5	6.1%	4.7%
5 to 17	12.8%	15.8%
18 to 24	7.1%	4.5%
25 to 34	11.4%	9.8%
35 to 44	13.3%	9.7%
45 to 54	7.6%	9.8%
55 to 64	15.5%	17.8%
65 to 74	12.6%	14.9%
75 and over	13.6%	12.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hettinger County	Nelson County
White (non-Hispanic)	94.8%	92.6%
Black or African American	0.3%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.3%	0.9%
Asian	0.3%	1.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.0%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	0.1%	2.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hettinger County	Nelson County
No high school diploma	6.9%	6.7%
High school graduate	33.8%	27.5%
Some college or associate's	40.6%	37.6%
Bachelor's degree	14.0%	21.0%
Graduate or professional degree	4.7%	7.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hettinger County	Nelson County
Drove alone	72.5%	67.0%
Carpooled	6.4%	11.7%
Public transit	0.0%	0.1%
Walked	8.5%	10.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	1.6%
Worked from home	10.1%	8.4%
Other means	2.5%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hettinger County	Nelson County
1-unit, detached	82.7%	83.8%
1-unit, attached	2.3%	0.2%
2 to 4 units	1.1%	3.9%
5 to 19 units	5.9%	8.1%
20 or more units	0.8%	0.2%
Mobile home & other	7.2%	3.8%

Poverty & households

	Hettinger County	Nelson County
Poverty rate	9.3%	10.0%
Average household size	2.09	2.25
Mean commute (minutes)	17	20
Median year structure built	1961	1962