Williston, North Dakota

Williston is a city in Williams County, North Dakota in the United States. It is the county seat of Williams County. The population was 12,512 at the 2000 census. Williston was founded in 1887.

The local paper is the Williston Herald. Sloulin Field International Airport serves the city. Williston State College is located here.

Geography

Williston is located at (48.156477, -103.628064).

It is near the confluence of the Yellowstone River and the Missouri River, at the upper end of the Lake Sakakawea reservoir.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.2 km² (7.0 mi²). 18.1 km² (7.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.99%) is water.

Notable people from Williston

Phil Jackson, basketball player and coach, was born in Montana, but spent the later part of his childhood, including his teenage years, in Williston.
Virgil Hill, a silver medalist in boxing at the 1984 Olympics and a four-time world champion boxer, spent his last year of high school at Williston High School.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,512 people, 5,255 households, and 3,205 families residing in the city. The population density was 693.1/km² (1,794.1/mi²). There were 5,912 housing units at an average density of 327.5/km² (847.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.69% White, 0.17% African American, 3.65% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 2.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.23% of the population.

The top 6 ancestry groups in the city are Norwegian (47.8%), German (31.6%), Irish (9.6%), English (5.8%), Swedish (4.5%), French (4.0%).

There were 5,255 households out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,962, and the median income for a family was $38,713. Males had a median income of $29,578 versus $18,879 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,656. About 11.3% of families and 13.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Williston Public School District serves the city and the surrounding rural area. The system is actually divided into two districts: District #1 (which serves the city) and District #8 (which serves the rural area). Trinity Christian School is a private K-12 school located in Williston.