North Dakota
“The Peace Garden State”
What Makes North Dakota Beautiful
North Dakota's beauty is raw and elemental: Theodore Roosevelt National Park's painted badlands glow in striated reds and golds, the wide Missouri River winds through open prairie, and the northern plains stretch to horizons where earth meets an impossibly vast sky. Sunflower fields blaze yellow in summer and the aurora borealis dances overhead in winter.
Key Metrics
0.8M
Population
$67.5B
GDP
+3.2%
GDP Growth (5yr)
$68.1K
Median Income
7.5%
Tax Burden
History
Lewis and Clark winter at Fort Mandan with the Mandan people
Admitted as the 39th state
Nonpartisan League forms, reshaping North Dakota politics
Oil discovered near Tioga, launching the petroleum industry
Bakken shale oil boom transforms the western part of the state
Top Cities
Fargo
127K
Largest city; North Dakota State University; tech growth
Bismarck
75K
State capital; Missouri River city
Grand Forks
56K
University of North Dakota; Air Force base
Minot
49K
Magic City; Minot Air Force Base
Williston
30K
Bakken oil boom town; rapid growth
Economy & Industry
Core Industries
Natural Resources
Energy Portfolio
Budget & Fiscal Health
$9.8B
State Budget
$9.5B
State Revenue
$-0.3B
Fiscal Balance
Social Indicators
11%
Poverty Rate
30.2%
College Degree
7.2%
Uninsured
340/100K
Crime Rate
Where is North Dakota Headed?
GDP Projections ($B)
| Scenario | 1yr | 5yr | 10yr | 25yr | 50yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimistic | $68B | $70B | $73B | $83B | $102B |
| Baseline | $68B | $70B | $72B | $79B | $93B |
| Pessimistic | $68B | $69B | $70B | $74B | $82B |
Political Landscape
R+20