Welcome to Watford City ...

The city of Watford City is located in McKenzie County<1> and is the County Seat for McKenzie County.

The location of Watford City has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

Watford City was established in 1914.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Watford City has a population of 7,817 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Watford City is 2,080 feet [634 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Watford City lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel west from Watford City (for example, toward Fairview (MT)), you will leave Central Time and cross into the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT).

Watford City is within the boundaries of the (701) area code.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Watford City had an population of 7,817 people. This is an increase of 348.22% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 444.74% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Watford City had a population of 1,744 people (or 27.42% of the total population of McKenzie County). This makes Watford City the county's most populous community.

The population of Watford City represents 0.26% of the population of North Dakota (which has 672,591 people), making it the state's 36th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 1,744 people, the population of Watford City increased 21.53% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 1,435 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Watford City.

Communities near Watford City ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Watford City.

• Alexander
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
  • Alexander is located in McKenzie County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alexander <5>
• Arnegard
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arnegard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnegard
  • Arnegard is located in McKenzie County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arnegard <5>
• Rawson
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rawson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawson
  • Rawson is located in McKenzie County
• Banks ‑ Historic
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Banks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banks
  • Banks is located in McKenzie County
• Keene
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
  • Keene is located in McKenzie County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keene <5>
• Lake Jessie
  (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Jessie
  • Lake Jessie is located in Williams County
• Charbonneau
  (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charbonneau
  • Charbonneau is located in McKenzie County
• Grassy Butte
  (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Butte
  • Grassy Butte is located in McKenzie County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grassy Butte <5>
• Mandaree
  (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mandaree have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandaree
  • Mandaree is located in McKenzie County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mandaree <5>
• Williston
  (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williston
  • Williston is located in Williams County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,749 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Williston <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Watford City. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Watford City.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Watford City. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Watford City.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Watford City. See our Newspapers Page for Watford City.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Watford City ...

Looking for more information about Watford City? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Watford City, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Watford City.

Adding Watford City to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Watford City in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Watford City was on a map titled Map of North Dakota (from Rand McNally, 1937).

We also found Watford City on a map titled Shell Oil Road Map for North Dakota (1949).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Watford City.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Watford City. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of North Dakota: www.nd.gov/