Cost of living in North Dakota

North Dakota at a glance

Median rent

$954

Census ACS, B25064, monthly

Median household income

$76,657

Census ACS, B19013, yearly

Median home value

$249,900

Census ACS, B25077

Median property tax bill

$2,468

Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners

Mean commute

18 min

Census ACS, DP03, one way

Unemployment

2.8%

Census ACS, DP03

North Dakota's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 11% below the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Figures from the 2024 release of the Census American Community Survey, checked September 2026. Health, hazard and price-level readings name their own release beside them.

The three most populous counties in North Dakota

These are the most populous places in North Dakota, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

• Cass County

  Population

  193K

  Rent

  $958

  Household income

  $75,555

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $3,564

  Set as targetPlan

• Burleigh County

  Population

  101K

  Rent

  $998

  Household income

  $86,851

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $2,863

  Set as targetPlan

• Grand Forks County

  Population

  72.9K

  Rent

  $992

  Household income

  $68,075

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $2,900

  Set as targetPlan

North Dakota, worth the trip

Admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, as the 39th state. An early explorer visited a cluster of earthen-lodge villages near present-day Bismarck in 1738. The Dakota Territory was established in 1861 and divided in 1889, when North Dakota and South Dakota both joined the Union.

• Theodore Roosevelt National Park

  The rugged Dakota landscape where Theodore Roosevelt came to hunt bison in 1883.

• Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site

  The site of earthlodge villages near the Missouri River, a Native American trade center for hundreds of years.

• Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site

  The most important fur trade post on the Upper Missouri River between 1828 and 1867.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in North Dakota

Current owners in North Dakota pay a median 0.99% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $2,468 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $774 in Sheridan County to $3,564 in Cass County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

Health in North Dakota

Life expectancy

77.8 yrs

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics

No health insurance

7.2%

County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65

Poor or fair health

13.7%

County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted

Injury deaths per 100K people

78

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for North Dakota as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in North Dakota

Expected yearly loss, statewide

$565M

All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more

Building loss rate

$1.21

Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states

Costliest hazard

Cold wave

$189M of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses

Air quality

—

The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

Side by side

Cass County, ND is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

All 53 counties in North Dakota

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

• State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
• County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
• Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
• Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
• Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
• Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
• Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.