Griggs County area

Griggs County, North Dakota covers 716.6 square miles: 708.7 square miles of land and 7.895 square miles of water. Its county seat is Cooperstown. An estimated 2,239 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 380392026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area708.7 mi²
Water area7.895 mi²
Population (2025)2,239
People per mi²3.2

County outline

Generalized outline of Griggs County, North Dakota
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Griggs County is located

Griggs County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 98.9% of Griggs County’s measured area and water for 1.1%. Its combined area converts to 1,855.9 square kilometers or approximately 458,611 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land708.6851,835.486453,558.4
Water7.89520.4485,052.8
Total716.581,855.934458,611.2

How Griggs County compares

By original Census land area, Griggs County ranks #51 of 53 in North Dakota and #1300 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.61 times the North Dakota county-equivalent median of 1,161.8 square miles. It accounts for 1% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete North Dakota ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Griggs County

The Census Bureau estimates that 2,239 people lived in Griggs County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #3,103 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #42 of 53 in North Dakota. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 2,306, the population has declined by 67 (−2.9%), compared with +2.6% for North Dakota as a whole.

With 708.7 square miles of land, that is 3.2 people per square mile (1.2 per km²), placing Griggs County #2,967 nationally for density and #30 in North Dakota. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the North Dakota median is 3.7. Put another way, there are about 203 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate2,2972,2882,2662,2472,2262,239
Change—−9−22−19−21+13

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Griggs County

3 incorporated places lie at least partly in Griggs County. Together they are home to 1,253 people (56%); the other 986 (44%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Cooperstown city, with 969 residents in the county.

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Cooperstown cityCounty seat969−2.5%1.006
Binford city162−3.6%0.353
Hannaford city122−3.9%0.219

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each place inside Griggs County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer, for the whole place even where it extends into other counties. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Griggs County is not part of any metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area in the Office of Management and Budget’s July 2023 delineation; 1,306 other county equivalents are also outside one. These areas are built around an urban core of at least 10,000 people plus the counties tied to it by commuting, so counties outside them are generally rural.

ZIP codes

10 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Griggs County; 5 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

58056582125841658425584295844858452584645848458492

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Griggs County

Griggs County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents. It has more land than 2 of them. The largest neighbor is Stutsman County (2,221.9 mi²) and the smallest is Eddy County (630.2 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Griggs County forms a block of 7,380.4 mi² of land, of which it holds 9.6%.

Map of Griggs County and the 6 county equivalents that border it Steele County, North Dakota: 712.1 mi² landBarnes County, North Dakota: 1,491.6 mi² landNelson County, North Dakota: 981.8 mi² landFoster County, North Dakota: 634.1 mi² landStutsman County, North Dakota: 2,221.9 mi² landEddy County, North Dakota: 630.2 mi² land
Griggs County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. GriggsCompare
Stutsman County2,221.93.1× largerCompare
Barnes County1,491.62.1× largerCompare
Nelson County981.81.4× largerCompare
Steele County712.1about the sameCompare
Foster County634.11.1× smallerCompare
Eddy County630.21.1× smallerCompare

How big is Griggs County compared with U.S. states?

Griggs County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.5 times as much. North Dakota’s county land could hold about 97 areas the size of Griggs County.

Land area: Griggs County and the closest-sized states
Griggs County708.7 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 26.6 miles (42.8 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Griggs County?

Griggs County has more land than 1,922 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Griggs County708.7 mi²
North Dakota median1,161.8 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Griggs County at #1,391 nationally by total area, 91 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 1.1%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2%. The two percentages are within 0.1 percentage points of each other. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Griggs County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#1299Oklahoma County, Oklahoma708.9Compare
#1300Griggs County, North Dakota708.7This county
#1301Aurora County, South Dakota708.5Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 47.456334, -98.232286. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 1,835,486,231 m²; AWATER: 20,446,711 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Griggs County?

Griggs County, North Dakota has 708.7 square miles (1,835.5 km²) of land and 7.895 square miles of water, for a total area of 716.6 square miles. It ranks #1300 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Griggs County the largest county in North Dakota?

No. Griggs County ranks #51 of 53 in North Dakota by land area. The largest is McKenzie County, with 2,760.1 square miles of land.

What counties border Griggs County?

Griggs County shares a land border with Steele County, Barnes County, Nelson County, Foster County, Stutsman County, and Eddy County.

What is the population of Griggs County?

The Census Bureau estimates Griggs County had 2,239 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #3,103 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 3.2 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Griggs County?

The county seat of Griggs County is Cooperstown.

What cities and towns are in Griggs County?

Griggs County has 3 incorporated places. The most populous are Cooperstown city, Binford city, and Hannaford city; 986 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Griggs County part of a metropolitan area?

No. Griggs County is outside every metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area in the July 2023 OMB delineation.

How many ZIP codes are in Griggs County?

10 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Griggs County, and 5 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Griggs County compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.5 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Griggs County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 453,558 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 458,611 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

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