Migration to and from Ward County, North Dakota
Where Ward County residents came from and where they went over the 5-year window 2016-2020. Census ACS County-to-County Migration Flows, 2020 5-yr (frozen vintage).
Total inflow
7,818
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
7,932
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
-114
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| McKenzie County | North Dakota | 544 |
| Williams County | North Dakota | 463 |
| Santa Barbara County | California | 353 |
| Cleveland County | Oklahoma | 337 |
| Europe | 328 | |
| Asia | 322 | |
| Walsh County | North Dakota | 247 |
| Bottineau County | North Dakota | 213 |
| Adams County | North Dakota | 204 |
| Bossier Parish | Louisiana | 187 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Williams County | North Dakota | 585 |
| Cass County | North Dakota | 294 |
| Burleigh County | North Dakota | 292 |
| Monterey County | California | 274 |
| Placer County | California | 231 |
| Pierce County | Washington | 213 |
| Montgomery County | Alabama | 203 |
| Bottineau County | North Dakota | 202 |
| Pike County | Pennsylvania | 193 |
| Dingman Township | Pike County, Pennsylvania | 193 |
Explore Ward County
- Business data for Ward CountyConstruction sector establishments, employment, payroll
- Cities in North DakotaACS demographic profiles for places statewide
- ZIP code lookupSearch demographic data by ZIP code
- Opportunity IndexRank counties by business growth potential
- Federal contracts in NDGovBids: RFPs, awards, NAICS matching
- New business filings in North DakotaNewFilings: fresh SOS registrations
Methodology
- Counts represent the number of people aged 1+ who reported a different residence at the survey reference date than they did one year earlier, aggregated across the 5-year sample window 2016-2020.
- Outbound (OUT) flows are reported less frequently than inbound (IN) because the survey captures the destination side of each move. Many county pairs have null OUT counts, which is normal.
- "Total inflow" sums the published MOVEDIN counts across all origin counties, including foreign-region inflows (Africa, Asia, Central America, etc.). It is not the same as net population change.
- Frozen vintage. The Census Bureau has not released a newer county-to-county migration flows file. The 2020 5-yr vintage (covering 2016-2020) is the latest available as of build date.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, County-to-County Migration Flows: 2016-2020. Vintage: 2020 5-yr. Generated: 2026-05-28. FIPS: 38101.