Counties / North Dakota / Nelson County

Nelson County, ND

FIPS 38063 · population 3,016 · outside every metro area

$156k
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
$156k
▲ 7.0% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$582
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.

One annual series is unavailable
FHFA five-year cumulativen/anot annualized · through n/a
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+7.0%FHFA HPIperiod n/an/a
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$140k
Surveyed gross rent$582
Rent burden 30%+20.4%
Median year built1963
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
25.0%vacant
1,783estimated housing units
Occupied tenure24.9% renter
owner 75.1%renter 24.9%
Structure mix83.5% single-family
Single-family 83.5%20+ units 0.2%Mobile home 3.8%Other 12.5%
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 jobs1,019▼ 2.0% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments178annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$957▲ 6.1% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services30.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−2.0%WEEKLY WAGE+6.1%Education and health services30.1%
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

Nelson County’s decision tension is a Zillow county median home value of $156,048 in 2026-06, up 6.96% year over year, beside a small 2025 workplace base: QCEW reports 1,019 annual-average covered jobs, down 2.02%. Zillow is a home-value measure, not closed-sale evidence; QCEW counts covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment. Rent-dependent buyers and owners concerned about exit depth should investigate leases, sale comparables, and insurance before treating the value gain as durable.

02Housing economics

Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $873 per month is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot substitute for market rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.75%, with median annual tax of $1,044. Without market rent, parcel assessments, and insurance, price and carrying costs cannot be reconciled into cash flow.

03Demand & competition

Tax-return migration is a mixed demand signal: 38 households moved in and 52 moved out, a net migration loss of 14. Entrants reported average AGI of $61,974 versus $55,154 for leavers; this concerns moving tax-return households, not the buyer pool. Non-occupants accounted for 2 of 15 purchase mortgages, or 13.33%. This measures non-occupant mortgage participation, not all investor acquisitions or proof of bidding pressure. Education and health services was the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy.

04Risk & next checks

Hail is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected annual building-value loss is 0.14%; it is a modeled ratio, not an insurance quote or dollar loss. FHFA annual HPI is not published, preventing a repeat-transaction check on Zillow’s direction. Realtor.com active listings, MLS listing price, days on market, and price-reduced share are not published. Visible supply, seller concessions, and marketing time therefore cannot be assessed. Obtain lease rolls, insurance terms, parcel taxes, recent closed sales, and complete MLS measures.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Nelson 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
Lakota city784McVille city365Michigan City city277Aneta city157Tolna city124Petersburg city120Pekin city62Dahlen CDP20
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

8 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Lakota cityIncorporated place
    784
  2. 02
    McVille cityIncorporated place
    365
  3. 03
    Michigan City cityIncorporated place
    277
  4. 04
    Aneta cityIncorporated place
    157
  5. 05
    Tolna cityIncorporated place
    124
  6. 06
    Petersburg cityIncorporated place
    120
  7. 07
    Pekin cityIncorporated place
    62
  8. 08
    Dahlen CDPCensus-designated place
    20

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 hazardhail

0.143% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.75%

$1,044 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-14

38 in · 52 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$6,820

$61,974 arriving · $55,154 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors13.3%

2 of 15 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. Published value growth may not translate into property income because market rent and gross yield are unavailable.
  2. Hail exposure and unknown property-level insurance terms could materially alter carrying costs.
  3. Missing MLS and FHFA measures leave exit liquidity and price-trend confirmation unresolved.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the published record?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot be substituted for asking rent.

What hazard requires property-level insurance review?

Hail is the county’s dominant hazard.

Are MLS supply and seller-concession measures available?

No. Active listings, listing price, days on market, and price-reduced share are not published.