Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bismarck grades B overall, 8th of 23 graded towns in North Dakota, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 87% of the country and it has 41 miles of trail. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 79% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 69% of working residents work locally in Bismarck, above both North Dakota’s towns (38%) and U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Camp Hancock Site and Towne-Williams House. Bismarck is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 68% of U.S. towns.
Where Bismarck beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,758 in 1880, 73,622 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 3 maps from 1950 on.
24 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Dakota), ordered by how far Bismarck is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bismarck, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Jul 30, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Bismarck.
Bismarck has seen reported crime fall by a third or more and has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of North Dakota; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of North Dakota (mostly inland flooding).
41 miles of trail in 45 parks and preserves. Bismarck’s trail density is 1.1 miles per square mile. Among 23 North Dakota towns, just 1 have a higher share of conserved land than Bismarck.
| Bismarck | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 8.4% | 2.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Riverside Park | 3.3 mi | 231 |
| 2. Cottonwood Park | 2.6 mi | 183 |
| 3. Atkinson Nature Park | 2 mi | 143 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Bismarck 1 school district. Three of its 34 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horizon Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,124 | B |
| Legacy High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,419 | C− |
| Roosevelt Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 113 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ND on state tests and graduation
13% of Bismarck adults report frequent mental distress. Bismarck beats the North Dakota average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 20% of Bismarck adults binge drink.
| Bismarck | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 22% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 21% | 23% |
| What stands out | Bismarck | ND |
|---|---|---|
| More adults seeing a dentist | 68.3% | 64.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 2,568 to 1,666 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Bismarck is 18.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Bismarck | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.8 per 1,000 residents | 14.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of North Dakota towns, with expected losses of about $452 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 357 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 26 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1978, 357 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bismarck. Among 23 North Dakota towns, just 1 have a higher FEMA risk score than Bismarck.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Bismarck home is worth about $378,000, up 5.3% in a year, 30% above the North Dakota typical home. 66% of households own their home in Bismarck.
| Bismarck | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 66% | 56% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 40% | 40% | 48% |
| Median rent | $999 a month | $973 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 2.8°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 89% of North Dakota places with climate records; July afternoons average 83.5°.
Bismarck has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. About 51 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Bismarck | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 3°F | 1°F | 22°F |
| July high | 84°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The top destinations are Mandan (8%), Fargo (3%) and Minot (2%).
| Bismarck | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 7.6% | 5.5% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the North Dakota average. Bismarck has grown 5.9% since 2020, to 77,963 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 39% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 33% across North Dakota.
| Bismarck | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 30% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 13% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 27% | 22% |
| Median age | 38.9 years | 33.7 years | 40.5 years |
50.2% women, 49.8% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.6 points. Across North Dakota, 48.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 40.6, men 37.6.
| Bismarck | ND | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.7% | 13% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.8% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.1% | 11.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.7% | 13.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.1% | 10.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12% | 11.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.4% | 9.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.5% | 6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.1% | 25.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19% | 21.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.2% | 14% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.1% | 23% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.2% | 9.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
3 within 15 miles of the center of Bismarck
About 5 of every 100 Bismarck residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across North Dakota.
61,272 counted in 2010 and 73,622 in 2020; an estimated 77,963 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 5.9% since 2020, after 20.2% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
24 places in Bismarck on the National Register of Historic Places.
44 notable people were born in Bismarck.
Capital city of North Dakota, United States
Bismarck () is the capital city of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The population was 73,622 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 77,772 in 2024, while its metropolitan population was 133,626. In 2014, Forbes magazine ranked Bismarck as the seventh fastest-growing small city in the United States. Bismarck was founded by European-Americans in 1872 on the east bank of the Missouri River. It has been North Dakota's capital city since 1889, when the state was created from the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union. Bismarck is across the river from Mandan, named after a Native American tribe…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Bismarck.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B; Gibbs Township (A−) is closest.
| Town | ND rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bismarck | #8 | B | B | C− | B+ | A |
| Hay Creek Township | #2 | A | B | — | B+ | A |
| Gibbs Township | #4 | A− | B | — | B+ | A |
| Apple Creek Township | #3 | A | B | — | B+ | A− |
| Captain's Landing Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Hay Creek Township, Gibbs Township and Apple Creek Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Captain's Landing Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bismarck with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Bismarck grades B overall, better than 64% of U.S. towns and #8 of 23 in North Dakota. It grades A for health, C− for safety and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4.4 years of the area's median household income ($85,156 across the Bismarck, ND metro area).
44 notable people were born here, including Leslie Bibb and John Hoeven.
