North Dakota rental market data

In July 2026, Apartment List’s recent-lease rent was $1,212, up 1.9% from $1,189. Its separate Vacancy Index rose from 5.5% to 6.5%, an increase of 1.0 percentage point. Positive rent growth therefore did not coincide with tighter measured occupancy.

The counter-signal is that state vacancy remained 0.7 percentage point below the national rate of 7.2%, while national rent declined 1.1%. State rent growth was 3.0 percentage points higher. Current property occupancy and lease-up assumptions deserve more weight than rent growth alone. The packet supplies only national time on market, which increased from 28 to 30 days, so it cannot establish state listing speed.

Across eight measured metros, median home-value growth was 5.6%, compared with 4.1% median asking-rent growth, a 1.5 percentage-point rent shortfall. The distributions were broad: the 10th-to-90th percentile range was negative 1.6% to 6.9% for rent growth and 3.6% to 7.6% for price growth. These medians describe measured metros, not every locality.

Among named markets, Minot’s rent rose 6.5% while its price increased 3.7%, and Grand Forks recorded 7.9% rent growth against 7.3% price growth. Wahpeton moved the other way, with rent up 4.6% and price up 5.6%. Their indicated gross yields were close—5.0% in Minot and 4.9% in both Grand Forks and Wahpeton—so operating costs, vacancy and acquisition basis could determine whether the momentum differences matter to actual returns.

Job growth across eight measured metros had a median of 0.3%, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range from negative 1.1% to 1.5%. Dickinson and Jamestown were stronger named pockets at 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively, while Bismarck was close to the measured median at 0.3%.

The migration series covering 47 counties reports net migration of 100 people, or 0.127 per 1,000 residents, alongside an aggregate mover-income gap of negative $331,603. That combination does not confirm broad household or income expansion. It also cannot identify how many movers were renters, and the 2022–2023 migration period is older than the current employment and rental readings.

Across six measured metros, median resale time was 37.5 days and median supply was 2.8 months. Wahpeton stood at 79 days and 4.8 months of supply, with price drops on 24.2% of listings and a 96.6% sale-to-list ratio. Dickinson recorded 71 days, 3.4 months, a 23.8% price-drop share and a 99.7% sale-to-list ratio. Minot was less extended at 41 days and 2.1 months.

Permitting also varies. Fargo recorded 1,118 permitted units, or 4.31 per 1,000 residents; Grand Forks had 314, or 3.03 per 1,000; and Bismarck had 366, or 2.69 per 1,000. Bismarck simultaneously showed 2.4 months of supply, 30 median days on market and a 26.1% price-drop share. Permits are not completed units, and price cuts are not rental concessions, but both warrant local pipeline and exit-liquidity checks.

Across 53 county ACS records, the median overall housing vacancy rate was 20.2%, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range from 9.0% to 28.1%. The median renter share was 23.9%, single-family homes represented a median 79.1% of stock, and large multifamily buildings represented only 2.1%. The median of reported county median years built was 1971. These are ACS housing-stock measures, not Apartment List rental vacancy.

Grant County combined 35.2% overall housing vacancy with a 16.6% renter share and a 62.0% rent-burden rate among renters. Emmons County had 25.5% vacancy and 57.2% renter burden; Mercer County had 23.0% vacancy and 55.4% renter burden. Broad vacancy and renter stress can therefore coexist. The data cannot show whether vacant units are habitable, available for rent or suitable for local tenants.

FEMA assigns inland flood as the mutually exclusive leading-hazard label for 47 counties, followed by hail for three, strong wind for two and wildfire for one. These counts cover all 53 counties without overlap, but a county’s leading label does not establish exposure for a particular parcel.

Across 53 counties, effective property-tax rates ran from 0.54% at the 10th percentile to 1.12% at the 90th. Cavalier County was 1.34% with a $1,686 median tax, Cass County was 1.20% with $3,564, and Foster County was 1.19% with $1,991. The highest named climate-loss ratios were 0.31% in Oliver County, 0.24% in Burleigh County and 0.22% in Griggs County. Property-specific tax records and insurance terms remain necessary because these county measures do not determine an individual asset’s cost.