Counties / North Dakota / Cavalier County

Cavalier County, ND

FIPS 38019 · population 3,633 · outside every metro area

$174k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$174k
▲ 11.2% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$786
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$873
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+11.0%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+11.2%FHFA HPI2025+1.4%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$126k
Surveyed gross rent$786
Rent burden 30%+54.0%
Median year built1968
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
26.0%vacant
2,109estimated housing units
Occupied tenure18.6% renter
owner 81.3%renter 18.6%
Structure mix81.7% single-family
Single-family 81.7%20+ units 3.3%Mobile home 5.4%Other 9.5%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs1,264▲ 2.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments176annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,100▲ 0.5% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities38.7% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+2.6%WEEKLY WAGE+0.5%Trade, transportation, and utilities38.7%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Cavalier County’s tension is a sharp Zillow value gain versus calmer FHFA evidence, without published market rent to test income support. Buyers able to verify property rents, taxes and flood insurance should investigate; those relying on appreciation should be cautious. Zillow reports a $173,752 median home value in 2026-06, up 11.20% year over year. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 1.42%. These different methods and labeled periods cannot be averaged: FHFA is not a home value.

02Housing economics

Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot fill that gap. The reported effective property-tax rate is 1.34%, with a $1,686 median annual tax; neither identifies a parcel’s bill. A rent roll, local asking-rent evidence and parcel tax bill are needed before carrying-cost conclusions.

03Demand & competition

QCEW annual workplace employment rose 2.60% in 2025, and Trade, transportation, and utilities accounted for 38.70% of private covered jobs, the largest disclosed private supersector. This is workplace employment, not resident employment or unemployment. Tax-return migration was -45, while departing households averaged $3,268 more income than arrivals. Investor buyers were one of 24 purchases, or 4.17%. The small purchase count and migration evidence do not establish tenant or buyer demand.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss equals 0.08% of building value per year. This is a modeled ratio, not a property loss estimate, and cannot be converted to dollars from this record. No Realtor.com MLS listing-price, active-listing, days-on-market or price-reduction data are supplied, so visible supply, marketing time and seller concessions cannot be assessed. Next checks are parcel flood zone and insurance terms, market-rent comps, tax bill, and recent closed transactions; without them, cash flow, liquidity and hazard-adjusted underwriting remain unresolved.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Cavalier County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Langdon city1.8KMunich city257Osnabrock city115Milton city43Alsen city39Nekoma city22Sarles city*19Calio city14
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

12 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Langdon cityIncorporated place
    1,782
  2. 02
    Munich cityIncorporated place
    257
  3. 03
    Osnabrock cityIncorporated place
    115
  4. 04
    Milton cityIncorporated place
    43
  5. 05
    Alsen cityIncorporated place
    39
  6. 06
    Nekoma cityIncorporated place
    22
  7. 07
    Sarles cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    19
  8. 08
    Calio cityIncorporated place
    14
  9. 09
    Loma cityIncorporated place
    6
  10. 10
    Calvin cityIncorporated place
    5
  11. 11
    Hannah cityIncorporated place
    4
  12. 12
    Wales cityIncorporated place
    2

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.083% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.34%

$1,686 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-45

35 in · 80 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$3,268

$58,657 arriving · $61,925 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors4.2%

1 of 24 mortgages

investorother financed
No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. No published market asking rent prevents gross-yield and cash-flow testing.
  2. Missing MLS listing metrics and closed-sale evidence leave liquidity and seller-concession conditions unmeasured.
  3. County-level flood modeling and tax references may differ from parcel-level insurance, flood exposure and assessments.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be computed from this record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot substitute for market rent.

What MLS liquidity evidence is available?

No Realtor.com listing price, inventory, days-on-market or price-reduction figures are supplied.

How much investor competition is measured?

The record shows one investor purchase among 24 purchases, representing 4.17%.