Bismarck, the state capital · Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0How North Dakota stacks up
On natural-hazard risk, North Dakota is a state of two halves: 22% of residents live in top-quarter towns such as Minot and Williston, and 22% in bottom-quarter ones such as Bismarck and Mandan. Only one state has shorter commutes: in North Dakota, the average trip to work takes 17.9 minutes. On balance it grades A−, which places it 11th.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
33rd of 51C+36/100 Safer statewide than in its larger towns. Top-quarter towns are rare here; West Fargo comes closest at #1,340. Measured by the FBI, violent crime here comes to 240 per 100,000 residents, 27% below the national figure. Its larger towns trail the statewide figure, which also counts rural areas.
With property crime counted (property + 4 × violent), it places 22nd lowest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 9 North Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally.
The big places weigh on the total
Jamestown leads its towns at #1,536 of 3,410 nationally, with Minot and Dickinson close behind. Williston and Mandan sit at the high-crime end of the national ranking. The statewide rate ranks 18th lowest, but town by town it places 40th of 48.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| North Dakota | 0% | 42% |
Nearly every town counted
In North Dakota, 100% of residents of 10,000+ towns are covered. Its neighbors are counted about as fully, 92% to 96%.
Schools
42nd of 51C−18/100 Schools trail most states. North Dakota’s students rank 25th highest on the Nation’s Report Card: 32% reach Proficient. Few residents live in a top-quarter town; its best showing is Bismarck, #2,866 nationally. Every neighbor scores higher, Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana among them.
Graduation: 83.2% finish high school on time (class of 2023), 14th lowest. The grade weighs test results and graduation equally.
Per-pupil spending, $16,642 (23rd highest), is shown for context and not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 9 North Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
14th of 51B+74/100 Affordable, town after town. Its larger towns score well almost across the board, from Dickinson to Williston. Homes cost 3.3 times the typical household income, and the median tax bill is $2,468 (21st lowest).
Home values run 3.3 times the median household income, 14th lowest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 9 North Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
5th of 51A92/100 Healthy, town after town. CDC estimates put 16% of adults in fair or poor health, the 7th lowest share among the states. Only Vermont and one other state put more residents in the nation’s healthiest quarter of towns. No neighbor beats it on health; Minnesota comes closest.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 9 North Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
50th of 51D−2/100 Among the lowest ownership in the country. Compared with 65% nationally, 63% of homes here are owner-occupied. Only 0% of residents live in a town in the national top quarter, led by Mandan. Every neighbor scores higher, Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana among them.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 9 North Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
14th of 51B+74/100 Low risk, but not everywhere. FEMA expects $108 of damage a year for every $100,000 of buildings, 31% below the national figure (14th lowest). Its towns run the full range: Minot and Williston rank near the top of the country, Bismarck and Mandan near the bottom. It leads its neighbors on hazard risk, ahead of Minnesota.
The federal government declared 13 major disasters here between 2015 and 2025 (23rd most).
What drives it: inland flooding 53%, hail 15%, tornado 11% of expected building damage.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 9 North Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
1st of 51A+100/100 Short commutes nearly everywhere. Getting to work takes 17.9 minutes on average (2nd shortest). No state puts more of its people in the nation’s shortest-commute quarter of towns (100%). Jamestown is among the ten best towns in the country for commute times (#7).
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 9 North Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
2nd of 51A+98/100 Consistently growing. No state puts more of its people in the nation’s fastest-growing quarter of towns (83%). The population grew 15.8% between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, against 7.4% nationally (4th fastest). Building has cooled: 16th fewest new homes per resident last year.
Building: 3.4 new homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025, 16th fewest.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 9 North Dakota towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How North Dakota compares to its neighbors
Next to Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana, it comes out ahead on health, natural hazards and the commute and behind on schools and housing.
| North Dakota | Minnesota | South Dakota | Montana | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A− 8011th of 51 | A+ 963rd of 51 | B 5623rd of 51 | C− 2041st of 51 |
| Safety | C+ 3618th official · 0% in top towns | A− 7615th official · 15% in top towns | C− 2229th official · 0% in top towns | D 840th official · 0% in top towns |
| Schools | C− 1825th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 6611th official · 15% in top towns | C+ 3617th official · 2% in top towns | C 2814th official · 0% in top towns |
| Cost of living | B+ 7421st official · 45% in top towns | B− 4634th official · 24% in top towns | A− 7825th official · 68% in top towns | C 2624th official · 0% in top towns |
| Health | A 927th official · 56% in top towns | A− 826th official · 33% in top towns | B− 4813th official · 4% in top towns | B− 5222nd official · 15% in top towns |
| Housing | D− 245th official · 0% in top towns | A 927th official · 21% in top towns | C 2819th official · 2% in top towns | C 2618th official · 0% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | B+ 7414th official · 22% in top towns | B 6416th official · 13% in top towns | C+ 4221st official · 0% in top towns | B 6227th official · 44% in top towns |
| Commute | A+ 1002nd official · 100% in top towns | B+ 7414th official · 44% in top towns | A+ 981st official · 98% in top towns | A 944th official · 97% in top towns |
| Growth | A+ 984th official · 83% in top towns | B 6020th official · 28% in top towns | A− 7617th official · 53% in top towns | B+ 6815th official · 32% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work