The 10 Poorest Cities In North Dakota For 2023


The poorest places in North Dakota are Devils Lake and Wahpeton for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

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.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


Here are the ten poorest places in North Dakota for 2023:

  1. Devils Lake
  2. Wahpeton
  3. Jamestown
  4. New Town
  5. Grand Forks
  6. Lisbon
  7. Rugby
  8. Valley City
  9. Grafton
  10. Bottineau

What’s the poorest city in North Dakota? According to the facts, Devils Lake is the poorest place in North Dakota for 2023.

This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.

For more North Dakota reading, check out:


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Poorest Cities In North Dakota For 2023

1. Devils Lake

Devils Lake, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,201
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $40,037 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 20.3% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,464
More on Devils Lake: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

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 7,201 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.

2. Wahpeton

Wahpeton, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 7,928
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $45,000 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.6% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,393
More on Wahpeton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The second poorest city in North Dakota is Wahpeton.

The city ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty and 2nd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 11th highest in the Peace Garden State.

3. Jamestown

Jamestown, ND

Source: Wikipedia User LinkTiger | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 15,823
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 3)
Median Income: $49,038 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.4% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,271
More on Jamestown: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Placing as the third poorest city, Jamestown’s median income ranks as the 3rd 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 14.358723046765613% 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.

4. New Town

New Town, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,745
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $56,066 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 21.6% (highest)
People In Poverty: 594
More on New Town: Data | Crime

New Town ranks as the fourth poorest place in North Dakota.

The town ranks as having the 8th lowest median household income and the 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.

5. Grand Forks

Grand Forks, ND

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 58,867
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $53,611 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.9% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 10,532
More on Grand Forks: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The fifth poorest city in North Dakota is Grand Forks.

The city ranks as having the 6th 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 4th highest in North Dakota.

Still not the best news for Grand Forks.

6. Lisbon

Lisbon, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Filer | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 2,109
Rank Last Year:
Median Income: $56,835 (10th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 20.0% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 421
More on Lisbon: Data | Crime

Lisbon ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Peace Garden State.

It ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty and the 5th highest unemployment rate.

7. Rugby

Rugby, ND

Source: Wikipedia User I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 2,546
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 4)
Median Income: $56,429 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 13.7% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 348
More on Rugby: Data | Crime

Rugby places as the seventh poorest city in North Dakota.

The city of over 2,546 ranks as having the 8th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.

8. Valley City

Valley City, ND

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 6,586
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $54,629 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 12.4% (10th highest)
People In Poverty: 813
More on Valley City: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Valley City ranks as the eighth poorest city in North Dakota.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 9th highest in the state.

9. Grafton

Grafton, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Filer | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 4,186
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 2)
Median Income: $50,273 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 10.0% (16th highest)
People In Poverty: 420
More on Grafton: Data | Crime

Grafton couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in North Dakota; it ranks number 9.

While the median income is the 4th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Grafton ranks as having the 16th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in North Dakota.

10. Bottineau

Bottineau, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Bobak Ha’Eri | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,141
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 3)
Median Income: $63,077 (13th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.2% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 303
More on Bottineau: Data

And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in North Dakota is Bottineau.

The city of 2,141 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Peace Garden State.

Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In North Dakota for 2023

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 2017-2021 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 2023”.

This report has been updated for 2023, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in North Dakota.

Summary: The Poorest Cities In North Dakota For 2023

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.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in North Dakota, according to data:

    Richest: Horace
    2nd Richest: Stanley
    3rd Richest: West Fargo

For more North Dakota reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In North Dakota

Rank City Population Poverty Rate Median Income People In Poverty
1 Devils Lake 7,201 20.3% $40,037 1,464
2 Wahpeton 7,928 17.6% $45,000 1,393
3 Jamestown 15,823 14.4% $49,038 2,271
4 New Town 2,745 21.6% $56,066 594
5 Grand Forks 58,867 17.9% $53,611 10,532
6 Lisbon 2,109 20.0% $56,835 421
7 Rugby 2,546 13.7% $56,429 348
8 Valley City 6,586 12.4% $54,629 813
9 Grafton 4,186 10.0% $50,273 420
10 Bottineau 2,141 14.2% $63,077 303
11 Fargo 124,979 12.9% $60,243 16,181
12 Carrington 2,133 8.9% $52,321 188
13 Dickinson 24,851 12.3% $64,806 3,047
14 Minot 48,005 11.7% $68,543 5,640
15 Lincoln 4,126 11.9% $76,333 491
16 Mandan 23,784 8.9% $74,341 2,105
17 Watford City 5,725 11.6% $76,366 662
18 Bismarck 73,321 8.7% $70,125 6,358
19 Casselton 2,493 2.9% $57,227 71
20 Hazen 2,564 11.7% $92,188 300
21 Williston 27,368 7.6% $75,061 2,092
22 Beulah 3,070 6.3% $78,688 192
23 West Fargo 37,913 6.3% $93,382 2,383
24 Stanley 2,079 5.1% $97,000 106
25 Horace 3,141 2.2% $138,636 68
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *