Mountrail County

Mountrail County, North Dakota — key demographics

Population size

• 9,809 (2020 Decennial Census)
• 2010 to 2020 change: +27.8% (from 7,673 to 9,809)

Age

• Median age: ~33 years (ACS 2018–2022)
• Under 18: ~28%
• 65 and over: ~12%

Gender

• Male: ~54%
• Female: ~46% (ACS 2018–2022)

Racial/ethnic composition (share of total)

• White alone: ~59%
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: ~35%
• Black or African American alone: ~1%
• Asian alone: <1%
• Two or more races: ~4%
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): ~4% (2020 Census; Hispanic overlaps with race categories)

Households and housing

• Households: ~3,400 (ACS 2018–2022)
• Average household size: ~2.7–2.8
• Family households: ~70%+
• Owner-occupied housing rate: ~65%–70%
• Median household income: roughly $75,000–$80,000
• Poverty rate: roughly 10%–12%

Insights

• Younger and more male than state average, reflecting energy-sector labor markets.
• Large American Indian population (Fort Berthold reservation spans part of the county).
• Rapid population growth during the 2010s tied to oil development.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census (population, race/ethnicity counts) and American Community Survey 2018–2022 5-year estimates (age, sex, households, income, poverty, tenure). Figures are the latest standard federal statistics for small counties and reflect ACS estimates where noted.

• Population and density: About 10,000 residents spread over ~1,825 sq mi (≈5.5 people per sq mi).
• Estimated email users: About 6,500 residents use email regularly (derived from ACS internet adoption and Pew email-use rates applied to the local population).
• Age distribution of email users: 13-17: 7%; 18-34: 29%; 35-54: 36%; 55-64: 14%; 65+: 14%.
• Gender split among email users: Male 54%, female 46% (reflects the county’s male-leaning demographics).
• Digital access and connectivity:
  • Roughly four in five households maintain a broadband subscription; most serviceable locations have 100/20 Mbps or better available (FCC 2024).
  • Fiber/cable are established in population centers such as Stanley and New Town; more remote and tribal areas lag in adoption and rely more on smartphone data.
  • Device access is high (around nine in ten households have a computer), and smartphone-only internet use is common among lower-income and transient oilfield workers.
  • Email engagement is stable to slightly rising as fixed broadband expands and mobile coverage improves along corridors like US-2 and ND-23.

Overall: Email is mainstream in Mountrail County, skewing toward working-age adults, with a slight male majority and adoption gaps in the most rural and tribal areas.

Mobile phone usage in Mountrail County, North Dakota — 2024–2025 snapshot

Context and size

• Population: approximately 10,000–10,200 (2023 Census estimate), up roughly 30% since 2010, driven by Bakken oil activity. About 4,000 households.
• Demographics: significantly more Native American residents than the state average (about 30–33% vs ~6% statewide) because a large part of the Fort Berthold Reservation lies in the county. The working-age share is higher and the median age slightly lower than the state, reflecting the oilfield workforce.

User estimates and adoption

• Adult smartphone users: about 6,300–6,900 (roughly 88–92% of ~7,200 adults).
• Households with at least one smartphone: approximately 3,700–3,900 (≈90–93% of households).
• Mobile-only internet households (no fixed broadband): approximately 20–26% (≈800–1,050 households). This is higher in reservation communities and lower in cooperative fiber footprints; it is modestly above the statewide rate.
• Work-related devices: a larger-than-average share of residents carry a second, employer-provided handset or hotspot (oilfield and construction), pushing active lines above the number of unique users during peak activity.

Demographic breakdown of usage patterns

• Age: near-universal smartphone access among 18–34 (≈95%+), high among 35–64 (≈90%+), and lower among 65+ (≈70–80%). Because the county skews younger than the state, overall smartphone penetration is slightly higher than the statewide average.
• Native American communities: smartphone access is high, but mobile-only internet reliance is materially higher than in non-tribal areas due to affordability and historical gaps in fixed broadband. The wind-down of the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (including the enhanced Tribal benefit) in 2024 increased price sensitivity and shifted some users to prepaid and lower-cost plans.
• Workforce effects: a male-skewed, rotational workforce in energy and construction sectors produces heavy mobile data consumption, high hotspot usage, and notable peak loads at shift changes and along oil traffic corridors.

Digital infrastructure and coverage

• Macro coverage: Verizon and AT&T provide near-countywide LTE and low-band 5G population coverage, with persistent rural gaps in coulees and along parts of Lake Sakakawea’s shoreline. T-Mobile’s low-band 5G reaches the main corridors and towns; coverage outside those corridors is improving but remains spottier than the other two.
• 5G profile: low-band 5G (coverage-first) is widespread on primary highways (US‑2, ND‑23, ND‑8). Mid-band 5G capacity is concentrated in and around population centers (e.g., Stanley, New Town/Parshall corridor); mmWave is effectively absent.
• Sites and backhaul: the county is served by a few dozen macro cell sites, supplemented by microwave hops in lake-adjacent terrain. Fiber backbones run along the major corridors; outside those, microwave backhaul remains common.
• Local fixed infrastructure that shapes mobile reliance:
  • RTC Networks (Reservation Telephone Cooperative), based in Parshall, has built out substantial fiber-to-the-premise in its service area, reducing mobile-only dependence for many rural households compared with similarly remote counties in other states.
  • Fixed-wireless and mobile home internet (LTE/5G) fill gaps beyond fiber footprints and are widely used for both home and small-business connectivity.
  • Private/industrial wireless: oilfield operators utilize telemetry and, in some cases, CBRS-based private LTE for field assets, adding to spectrum utilization outside towns.
• Public safety: FirstNet (AT&T) coverage is established along primary corridors and community hubs; volunteer and tribal EMS rely on mixed coverage in backcountry areas, where LMR (land mobile radio) remains critical.

Trends that differ from the North Dakota state pattern

• Higher mobile-only reliance where tribal and lake-adjacent rural geographies converge, despite strong cooperative fiber elsewhere in the county; statewide, fixed broadband availability is generally more uniform.
• More dual-device ownership and hotspot use per capita linked to energy-sector employment, raising per-user data consumption above the state average and creating sharper, time-based congestion patterns.
• Coverage quality is more polarized: excellent along oil and freight corridors, but more pronounced dead zones in the breaks and around water compared with the flatter, more uniformly covered parts of the state.
• Affordability shocks from the ACP wind-down have a visibly larger impact because a higher share of households qualified for the enhanced Tribal benefit; this has shifted some users to prepaid or lower-tier plans at a rate above the state average.
• Demographics drive higher overall smartphone penetration (younger workforce) but with a wider internal divide: high-capacity 5G users in towns and corridors versus mobile-only, budget-constrained users in reservation and remote rural areas.

Key takeaways

• Expect total unique smartphone users around 6.5–7.0 thousand, with active lines higher due to work devices.
• Mobile-only households are meaningfully above the statewide share but vary sharply by location: lower in RTC fiber zones, higher in reservation and lake-adjacent rural areas.
• Network investments have prioritized corridors and towns; closing the remaining coverage and capacity gaps in backcountry terrain and along the lake will require additional low-band spectrum utilization, new macro/small cells, or targeted repeaters.
• Affordability and plan stability are immediate levers: the end of ACP support has created a larger-than-average risk of disconnection or plan downgrades in the county’s tribal and lower-income segments.

Social media usage in Mountrail County, ND (2025 snapshot)

How these figures were derived

• County-specific platform penetrations are modeled from Pew Research Center’s 2024 U.S. social media use (with rural adjustments), applied to a rural North Dakota county profile. They reflect best-available estimates for Mountrail County and align with observed rural usage patterns in the Northern Plains.

Overall usage

• Adults using at least one social platform: ~74–78%
• Daily social media users: ~62–68% of adults
• Mobile-first access: >85% of users primarily access via smartphone
• Multi-platform behavior: typical adult regularly uses 3–4 platforms

Most-used platforms (share of adult residents)

• YouTube: ~80–83%
• Facebook: ~68–72%
• Instagram: ~38–44%
• Snapchat: ~27–32%
• TikTok: ~27–32%
• Pinterest: ~30–35% (skews female)
• WhatsApp: ~20–24%
• X (Twitter): ~18–22% (skews male)
• LinkedIn: ~18–22% (oil & gas, trades, and professional use)
• Reddit: ~12–16%
• Nextdoor: ~8–12% (limited footprint in sparsely populated areas)

Age-group patterns (who uses what most)

• Teens (13–17): Heavy on Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram; YouTube is near-universal; Facebook minimal except for school/activities updates.
• 18–29: ~9 in 10 on YouTube; ~3 in 4 on Instagram/Snapchat; ~6 in 10 on TikTok; ~7 in 10 on Facebook. Messaging via Snapchat and Instagram DMs is primary.
• 30–49: YouTube and Facebook dominate; Instagram widely used (~1 in 2–3 in 5); TikTok and Snapchat used by a sizable minority.
• 50–64: Facebook (7 in 10+) and YouTube (8 in 10) lead; Pinterest meaningful among women; Instagram/TikTok each ~1 in 3.
• 65+: Facebook is the default (6 in 10); YouTube common (1 in 2); Instagram/TikTok low (<1 in 5).

Gender breakdown (share tendencies)

• Women: higher on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and WhatsApp; more likely to engage with local groups, schools, health, and community events.
• Men: higher on YouTube, X, Reddit, and LinkedIn; more likely to follow sports, trades, energy sector, and news accounts.
• Platform audiences by gender (directionally): Pinterest heavily female; Reddit and X male-leaning; Facebook close to balanced but with slightly higher female usage.

Behavioral trends and engagement patterns

• Community-first on Facebook: County and city offices, schools, emergency notices, and local groups drive consistent Facebook usage; Marketplace is a core utility for buy/sell/trade.
• Video as default discovery: YouTube for how‑to, home/auto repairs, outdoor/recreation, ag and oilfield content; TikTok/Instagram Reels for quick local updates and entertainment.
• Messaging over posting: Private channels (Messenger, Snapchat, WhatsApp) carry a large share of daily interactions versus public feeds.
• Time-of-day peaks: Early morning (shift workers) and evenings (post‑work) show the highest engagement; weekend spikes around events, sports, and seasonal activities.
• Event- and season-driven spikes: Severe weather, school activities, hunting/fishing seasons, and regional events boost short‑term reach across Facebook and short‑form video.
• Small business presence: Local shops and services rely on Facebook Pages/Groups and Instagram for promotions; video (Reels/Shorts) increasingly used for offers and job postings.
• Cross-posting norms: The same announcement commonly appears on Facebook, Instagram, and occasionally Snapchat stories for reach across age cohorts.

Practical takeaways

• If you must pick two platforms for broad adult reach: Facebook and YouTube.
• To reach under-30s: Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok are essential; use Stories/Reels and short vertical video.
• For community information and conversion: Facebook Groups/Pages + Messenger.
• For professional and hiring in energy/trades: Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube shorts with job snippets.

Notes on uncertainty

• County-level platform splits are modeled from Pew 2024 national + rural breakouts and rural Upper Midwest adoption patterns. They are appropriate for planning and targeting but may vary a few points with local events, broadband pockets, and school-year calendars.