According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,426 square miles (3,690 km2), of which 1,426 square miles (3,690 km2) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) (0.03%) is water.[4]
Daniels County is predominantly rolling plains. ThePoplar River flows through the county.
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 1,661. Of the residents, 21.1% were under the age of 18 and 25.3% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 45.8 years. For every 100 females there were 106.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 102.9 males. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas and 100.0% lived in rural areas.[11][12]
There were 738 households in the county, of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 23.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[12]
There were 1,043 housing units, of which 29.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 78.9% were owner-occupied and 21.1% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.2%.[12]
As of the2010 census, there were 1,751 people, 798 households, and 481 families living in the county. The population density was 1.2 inhabitants per square mile (0.46/km2). There were 1,111 housing units at an average density of 0.8 units per square mile (0.31 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 95.7% white, 2.1% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 39.4% wereNorwegian, 31.8% wereGerman, 9.0% wereEnglish, 8.3% wereIrish, and 1.2% wereAmerican.
Of the 798 households, 21.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 4.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 39.7% were non-families, and 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.77. The median age was 50.4 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $38,125 and the median income for a family was $49,479. Males had a median income of $36,250 versus $25,921 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,737. About 9.8% of families and 14.1% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 20.6% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.