Morton County, ND

County Profile

33,777 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Morton County, ND.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

60out of 100
Area Score
Top 45% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 10% of 1,463 counties measured78
Growth853rd of 1,453 counties measured45
Housing affordabilityTop 25% of 1,462 counties measured79
Climate1,415th of 1,463 counties measured50
Physical resilience817th of 1,463 counties measured54
Access1,444th of 1,463 counties measured0
Economic stabilityTop 12% of 1,463 counties measured87
The quick read

Morton County ranks in the top 10% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 1.9% and median household income of $79,382.

Residential permitting has slowed: 81 units authorized over the past twelve months, 30% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.6 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
33,777
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$79,382
Top 19% nationally
Density
18/sq mi
1,925.9 sq mi of land
Median age
37.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Morton County
North Dakota
Metro area
Nearest major airport
RAP
203 mi · Rapid City Rgnl
Median home value
$263,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 1.9%, lower than in 99% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.2% over the past year, to 19,567 employed residents.

29% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 74% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$56,00042nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$59,95557th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,4952024 ACS 5-Year$79,382Top 19%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,1932024 ACS 5-Year$46,235Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$62,430Top 31%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.1%Top 8%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.3 minTop 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year28.8%Top 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.4%55th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202619,567Bottom 30%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.1%Top 37%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 42%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202619,95530th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year86.2%Top 3%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.0%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%28th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.7%Top 19%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20261.9%Top 1%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year10.6%67th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.41.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 1.9% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202480k75k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $79,382 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Bismarck, ND

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses2,400$81,120
Retail Salespersons2,280$36,730
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,180$29,940
General and Operations Managers1,740$93,540
Home Health and Personal Care Aides1,680$38,850
Office Clerks, General1,470$50,400

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

45% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 46% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.9 students for every full-time teacher across 20 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
21
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.9
across 20 of them
Math proficiency
45.2%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
45.8%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 21 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Mandan High SchoolMANDAN 11,17516.128%45%
Mandan Middle SchoolMANDAN 11,00316.445%42%
Ft Lincoln Elementary SchoolMANDAN 145517.547%52%
Red Trail Elementary SchoolMANDAN 143818.357%42%
Lewis and Clark Elementary SchoolMANDAN 137914.652%44%
Lakewood Elementary SchoolMANDAN 128512.4——
Roosevelt Elementary SchoolMANDAN 128415.867%52%
Prairie View Elementary SchoolNEW SALEM-ALMONT 4921212.557%52%
Mary Stark Elementary SchoolMANDAN 119311.437%27%
New Salem-Almont High SchoolNEW SALEM-ALMONT 4916512.752%52%
Flasher Elementary SchoolFLASHER 3913412.262%52%
Flasher High SchoolFLASHER 3913212.045%65%

31.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against North Dakota’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 11% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 89.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Bismarck, ND Metro Area is up 34% over five years, and up 6.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,686 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.02% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,175, some 9% above the $1,076 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,175 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $47,000 a year, about 59% of the median household income here of $79,382.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,076 a month.

A median home at $263,900 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $99,684, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
89.4

Prices here run about 11% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Bismarck, ND Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,175
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,076
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$263,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Morton County’s median household income of $79,382, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Bismarck, ND Metro Area’s figure202389.4Top 15%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Bismarck, ND Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.2%90th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Bismarck, ND Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+33.8%14th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Bismarck, ND Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+49.0%3rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 43%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year74.2%48th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±362024 ACS 5-Year15,46556th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,030Bottom 42%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,634Bottom 42%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,175Top 49%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$712024 ACS 5-Year$1,076Bottom 24%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,9292024 ACS 5-Year$263,90074th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1462024 ACS 5-Year$2,68680th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,9302024 ACS 5-Year$99,684Top 14%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year1.02%67th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year27.1%Top 43%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1932024 ACS 5-Year36551st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.4%46th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.5%37th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3562024 ACS 5-Year1,51945th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

45/ 100
Ranks 853 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 34,194 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 34,194 residents in 2024, up 0.4% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 81 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Morton County lost about 0.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $56,000, below the $59,955 of households that moved out.

At 2.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
81
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.4
Bottom 43% nationally
Year over year
−30%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202434k33k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
27%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$56,000
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,955
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Burleigh County, ND 989 people · 50% of arrivals
  2. Stark County, ND 69 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  3. Cass County, ND 61 people · 3.1% of arrivals
  4. Ward County, ND 42 people · 2.1% of arrivals
  5. McLean County, ND 33 people · 1.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Burleigh County, ND 1,070 people · 52% of departures
  2. Stark County, ND 72 people · 3.5% of departures
  3. Cass County, ND 68 people · 3.3% of departures
  4. Ward County, ND 37 people · 1.8% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202220232024202510788
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+18%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 2°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 19.1 inches, including 50.5 inches of snow.

-10°10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BISMARCK, 26.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals19.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals50.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals2°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals59°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

54 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and hail, with inland flooding alone responsible for 31% of it.

HailHigh
Winter weatherModerate
Ice stormElevated
Cold waveModerate
WildfireModerate
Strong windModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, heat wave, lightning, drought, earthquake, coastal flooding, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Morton County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.5 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 16.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 15.6 per 100,000 residents in Morton County.

Homicide
3.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
15.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
32.5
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Morton County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 203 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year91.4%Top 16%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle203 miBottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%Top 15%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rapid City RgnlRAP203 mi8,701 ft
Hector IntlFAR213 mi9,001 ft
Sheridan CountySHR304 mi8,301 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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60
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Morton County, ND

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.