Located in the Red River Valley, an extremely fertile and active agricultural region, Moorhead is also home to several corporations and manufacturing industries.

[9] Across the river from Fargo, North Dakota, Moorhead forms part of the core of the Fargo–Moorhead ND-MN Metropolitan Area.

Platted in 1871, the city was named for William Galloway Moorhead, an official of the Northern Pacific Railway.

[10] The city was platted in 1871 and named for William Galloway Moorhead, a Northern Pacific Railway official and brother-in-law of financier Jay Cooke.

[10][11] The former Moorhead Armory on 5th Street South was the site of the intended concert destination for musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper before their fatal plane crash a few miles north of Clear Lake, Iowa around 1:00 am Tuesday February 3, 1959.

[1] Partly due to its location in the Great Plains, Moorhead has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfb), with warm, humid summers and cold winters with around 53 inches of snow yearly.

According to the 2018–2022 American Community Survey, the racial composition was as follows: As of the 2020 census, there were 44,505 people, 17,063 households, and 10,064 families residing in the city.

According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, the top ten European ancestries were the following: As of the 2000 census, there were 32,177 people, 11,660 households, and 7,030 families living in the city.

Moorhead has multiple transportation options available to residents with intercity buses, trains and air travel available in Fargo.

According to the City's 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report,[23] the largest employers in the city are: The Rourke Art Gallery and the Rourke Art Museum are native Moorhead cultural institutions hosting the annual Midwestern Invitational Exhibition.

The museum displays an important art collection from local, regional and national artists.

The Rourke Museum is housed in the historic Moorhead Post Office building.

[27] The Hjemkomst Center is a local museum containing a full-scale replica of a Viking ship of the same name.

The traditional Norwegian-style church serves as a symbol of the Norwegian heritage in the Red River Valley.

The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks is an independent professional baseball team that plays at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo.

Interstate Raceway is a dragstrip and drifting race facility southeast of the city of Moorhead, Minnesota.

The former Moorhead Public Library, built in 1906, was located at 102 6th Street South was paid for by Andrew Carnegie and designed by architect Milton Earl Beebe.

The clinic offers family medicine, radiology, lab services, immunizations, and mammograms.

[49] Although Keillor thought the cemetery was founded by Norwegian Lutherans, in fact it was organized in 1875 by the Rev.