The city of Fargo is the crossroads and economic center of a large portion of eastern North Dakota and a portion of northwestern Minnesota. Fargo is a retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and educational hub for the region. Fargo is home to North Dakota State University. The local newspaper is The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. The city motto is "Gateway to the West". Fargo was founded in 1871.
As of the census of 2000, there were 90,599 people (2005 Census Bureau estimate: 90,934), 39,268 households, and 20,733 families residing in the city. The population density was 922.0/km² (2,388.2/mi²). There were 41,200 housing units at an average density of 419.3/km² (1,086.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.17% White, 1.02% African American, 1.24% Native American, 1.64% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.44% from other races, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.29% of the population.
The top 6 ancestry groups in the city are German (40.6%), Norwegian (35.9%), Irish (8.6%), Swedish (6.5%), English (5.2%), French (4.7%).
There were 39,268 households out of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.8% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.2% were non-families. 34.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 19.2% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,510, and the median income for a family was $50,486. Males had a median income of $31,968 versus $22,264 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,101. About 6.6% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.8% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.
Fargo is a major transportation hub for the surrounding region. It sits at the crossroads of two major interstate highways and is the home of a major airport.
Fargo is served by Hector International Airport. Hector has the longest public runway in the state and has scheduled passenger flights to Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Mesa Los Angeles, California and Orlando, Florida. An Air National Guard unit is also located at Hector. The city is currently served by Northwest Airlines, United Express, Frontier Airlines, and Allegiant Air. At the Northeast corner of the Airport you will find the only 24 hour Fixed-Base Operation - Fargo Jet Center.
The BNSF Railway runs through the metropolitan area as successor to the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railroad. Amtrak service is provided via the Empire Builder passenger train at the Fargo Amtrak station.
The city sits at the intersection of Interstate 29 and Interstate 94. U.S. Highway 81 and U.S. Highway 10 also run through the community. Some other major roadways in the city include 45th St., 32nd Ave. S, 13th Ave. S, Main Ave. and University Drive.
A public bus service named Fargo Moorhead Metro Area Transit (MAT) operates several routes. Greyhound Lines, Jefferson Lines and Rimrock Stages Trailways bus services also link Fargo to other communities.
The street system of Fargo is structured in the classic grid pattern. Routes that run from north to south are called streets, and routes that run from east to west are called avenues.