Williams County, ND

County Profile

39,555 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Williams 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.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 29% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 15% of 1,463 counties measured74
Growth835th of 1,453 counties measured46
Housing affordabilityTop 5% of 1,462 counties measured88
Climate1,447th of 1,463 counties measured46
Physical resilienceTop 14% of 1,463 counties measured84
Access1,444th of 1,463 counties measured0
Economic stabilityTop 41% of 1,463 counties measured66
The quick read

Williams County ranks in the top 15% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.3% and median household income of $85,595.

Residential permitting has slowed: 111 units authorized over the past twelve months, 15% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most counties measured: rent takes 23% of renter income and the median home is 2.5 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
39,555
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$85,595
Top 13% nationally
Density
19/sq mi
2,077.6 sq mi of land
Median age
31.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Williams County
North Dakota
Micro area
Nearest major airport
BIL
295 mi · Billings Logan Intl
Median home value
$284,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.3%, lower than in 98% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.9% over the past year, to 20,228 employed residents.

Median household income of $85,595 is higher than in 87% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$60,68456th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$74,13682nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,4242024 ACS 5-Year$85,595Top 13%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,8182024 ACS 5-Year$44,320Top 14%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$74,989Top 13%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.6%Top 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.9 minTop 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year24.4%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year81.7%79th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202620,228Bottom 32%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.9%Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.9%Bottom 44%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202620,70231st percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.9%Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%58th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.3%Top 2%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.0%9th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.61.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.3% 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

202120222023202490k80k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $85,595 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.

26% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 39% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.2 students for every full-time teacher across 19 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
19
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
26.3%
Reading proficiency
39.3%
The 12 largest of 19 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Williston Middle School Central CampusWILLISTON BASIN 71,53614.9——
Williston High SchoolWILLISTON BASIN 71,37014.0——
Hagan Elementary SchoolWILLISTON BASIN 748615.7——
McVay Elementary SchoolWILLISTON BASIN 744922.4——
Missouri Ridge Elementary SchoolWILLISTON BASIN 739714.7——
Ray Elementary SchoolNESSON 232419.127%37%
Central Elementary SchoolTIOGA 1532414.132%42%
Rickard Elementary SchoolWILLISTON BASIN 731910.3——
Lewis and Clark Elementary SchoolWILLISTON BASIN 730312.6——
Wilkinson Elementary SchoolWILLISTON BASIN 730111.6——
Tioga High SchoolTIOGA 1522013.817%32%
Eight Mile Elementary SchoolEIGHT MILE 621414.332%32%

29.0% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of North Dakota is up 39% over five years, and up 4.6% 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 $1,939 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.68% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,196, close to the $1,123 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,196 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $47,800 a year, about 56% of the median household income here of $85,595.

The typical renter household here spends 23% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,123 a month.

A median home at $284,800 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $116,083, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
23.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,196
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,123
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$284,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Williams County’s median household income of $85,595, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of North Dakota’s figure2026 Q2+4.6%70th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of North Dakota’s figure2026 Q2+38.8%24th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of North Dakota’s figure2026 Q2+56.3%4th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year2.5Top 47%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year53.0%3rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±572024 ACS 5-Year20,37665th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,068Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,578Bottom 47%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,196Bottom 48%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$562024 ACS 5-Year$1,123Bottom 21%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$24,0042024 ACS 5-Year$284,80078th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1512024 ACS 5-Year$1,93963rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$19,0192024 ACS 5-Year$116,083Top 6%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year0.68%38th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.3%Top 16%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3552024 ACS 5-Year85171st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.2%61st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year21.5%97th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±7692024 ACS 5-Year5,22281st 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.

Development Momentum

46/ 100
Ranks 835 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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 40,763 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 111 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Williams County gained about 1.6% 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 $60,684, below the $74,136 of households that moved out.

At 2.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
111
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.8
Bottom 49% nationally
Year over year
−15%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202441k38k
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 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
81%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$60,684
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$74,136
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. McKenzie County, ND 113 people · 4.0% of arrivals
  2. Ward County, ND 92 people · 3.3% of arrivals
  3. Kern County, CA 80 people · 2.9% of arrivals
  4. Mountrail County, ND 53 people · 1.9% of arrivals
  5. Maricopa County, AZ 47 people · 1.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Ward County, ND 106 people · 4.6% of departures
  2. McKenzie County, ND 85 people · 3.7% of departures
  3. Cass County, ND 61 people · 2.6% of departures
  4. Stark County, ND 55 people · 2.4% of departures
  5. Mountrail County, ND 49 people · 2.1% 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

202220232024202514462
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+106%).

Weather & climate

4 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 1°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 15.1 inches, including 48.2 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 WILLISTON SLOULIN INTL AP, 14.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals15.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals48.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals1°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 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

84 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, inland flooding and tornado, with cold wave alone responsible for 43% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 86% of measured US counties.

Winter weatherElevated
Cold waveModerate
Ice stormElevated
WildfireModerate
HailModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning, drought, landslide, heat wave, 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.

Williams County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.3 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 16.0 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 11.6 per 100,000 residents in Williams County.

Homicide
4.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Williams 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 295 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year92.3%Top 13%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle295 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-Year4.7%Top 9%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Billings Logan IntlBIL295 mi10,518 ft
Sheridan CountySHR298 mi8,301 ft
Rapid City RgnlRAP299 mi8,701 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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Area Score
65
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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
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
April 2025 to March 2026; March 2025 to February 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 Williams County, ND