Like all states, North Dakota has certain places that are going on hard times. These North Dakota places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in North Dakota.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 25 cities in North Dakota with more than 2,000 people.
$43,220 median income · 21.8% poverty · #1 lowest income in North Dakota
Located in
Ramsey County, North Dakota
Devils Lake, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in North Dakota thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 7,308 people averages the lowest median household income in North Dakota and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$52,500 median income · 24.0% poverty · #3 lowest income in North Dakota
The second poorest city in North Dakota is New Town.
The city ranks as having the highest incidence of poverty and 3rd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 12th highest in the Peace Garden State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$60,339 median income · 16.7% poverty · #5 lowest income in North Dakota
Placing as the third poorest city, Valley City’s median income ranks as the 5th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 16.7% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Peace Garden State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$62,750 median income · 15.6% poverty · #7 lowest income in North Dakota
Located in
Richland County, North Dakota
Wahpeton ranks as the fourth poorest place in North Dakota.
The town ranks as having the 7th lowest median household income and the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$56,554 median income · 14.7% poverty · #4 lowest income in North Dakota
Located in
Stutsman County, North Dakota
The fifth poorest city in North Dakota is Jamestown.
The city ranks as having the 4th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 7th highest in North Dakota.
Still not the best news for Jamestown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$50,365 median income · 13.0% poverty · #2 lowest income in North Dakota
Rugby ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Peace Garden State.
It ranks as having the 10th highest incidence of poverty and the 24th highest unemployment rate.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$63,627 median income · 15.5% poverty · #8 lowest income in North Dakota
Located in
Grand Forks County, North Dakota
Grand Forks places as the seventh poorest city in North Dakota.
The city of over 59,042 ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$62,679 median income · 14.4% poverty · #6 lowest income in North Dakota
Grafton ranks as the eighth poorest city in North Dakota.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$64,327 median income · 15.4% poverty · #9 lowest income in North Dakota
Lisbon couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in North Dakota; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 9th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Lisbon ranks as having the 6th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in North Dakota.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$65,905 median income · 12.0% poverty · #10 lowest income in North Dakota
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in North Dakota is Bottineau.
The city of 2,205 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Peace Garden State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is North Dakota’s statewide median.
North Dakota statewide median: $76,657
North Dakota statewide median: 10.8%
North Dakota statewide median: 2.8%
On the map
Where poverty hits hardest in North Dakota
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the poorest places in North Dakota for 2026
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2020-2024 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 25 places with more than 2,000 people in North Dakota, we ranked each place from 1 to 25 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Devils Lake, crowned the “Poorest Place In North Dakota For 2026”.
The full plate
Detailed list of the poorest places to live in North Dakota
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Poor Score | Population | Median income | Poverty | Unemployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devils Lake | 1.50 | 7,308 | $43,220 | 21.8% | 1.7% |
| 2 | New Town | 2.00 | 2,721 | $52,500 | 24.0% | 1.9% |
| 3 | Valley City | 4.00 | 6,541 | $60,339 | 16.7% | 4.9% |
| 4 | Wahpeton | 5.50 | 8,010 | $62,750 | 15.6% | 1.7% |
| 5 | Jamestown | 5.50 | 15,787 | $56,554 | 14.7% | 4.9% |
| 6 | Rugby | 6.00 | 2,481 | $50,365 | 13.0% | 0.5% |
| 7 | Grand Forks | 6.50 | 59,042 | $63,627 | 15.5% | 2.4% |
| 8 | Grafton | 7.00 | 4,102 | $62,679 | 14.4% | 0.8% |
| 9 | Lisbon | 7.50 | 2,259 | $64,327 | 15.4% | 3.5% |
| 10 | Bottineau | 11.00 | 2,205 | $65,905 | 12.0% | 1.7% |
| 11 | Fargo | 11.00 | 131,627 | $66,998 | 12.9% | 3.8% |
| 12 | Minot | 13.50 | 47,791 | $73,219 | 11.1% | 3.4% |
| 13 | Mandan | 14.00 | 24,522 | $71,780 | 9.8% | 1.5% |
| 14 | Beulah | 14.00 | 3,040 | $76,848 | 11.2% | 2.0% |
| 15 | Dickinson | 14.50 | 25,357 | $82,696 | 13.6% | 3.2% |
| 16 | Carrington | 16.50 | 2,168 | $77,171 | 9.7% | 1.4% |
| 17 | Hazen | 17.00 | 2,453 | $79,609 | 10.3% | 2.4% |
| 18 | Bismarck | 17.50 | 75,556 | $78,387 | 9.3% | 2.5% |
| 19 | Casselton | 18.50 | 2,953 | $73,259 | 7.1% | 0.9% |
| 20 | Williston | 19.50 | 28,056 | $79,381 | 8.1% | 4.9% |
| 21 | West Fargo | 20.50 | 40,094 | $90,665 | 8.8% | 1.1% |
| 22 | Stanley | 22.00 | 2,097 | $109,573 | 8.4% | 1.3% |
| 23 | Watford City | 22.50 | 6,039 | $102,260 | 7.8% | 0.6% |
| 24 | Lincoln | 22.50 | 4,381 | $87,652 | 5.6% | 1.1% |
| 25 | Horace | 25.00 | 4,588 | $138,578 | 4.3% | 0.4% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 25 cities with more than 2,000 residents.
Summary
The poorest cities in North Dakota for 2026
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in North Dakota, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in North Dakota.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
