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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
The numbers are clear: 1 of 1 cities in North Dakota beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 112. Fargo stands out at 92 on the index, with rent of $1,096/month and household income of $66,029. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and BLS data.
#1 Ranked: Fargo — cost index 92, rent $1,096/mo, income $66,029
1 of 1 cities come in below the national cost-of-living average of 112
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
The numbers are clear: 1 of 1 cities in North Dakota beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 112. Fargo stands out at 92 on the index, with rent of $1,096/month and household income of $66,029. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and BLS data.
Why Fargo ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 92 on the cost index, residents save roughly 20% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,096/month while the median household pulls in $66,029/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 80, though Healthcare (95) lags behind. Home prices average $312,872 — $154,498 below the national median.
The transportation sub-index is derived from overall cost of living with regional BLS price adjustments. A score of 87 (the top-10 average here) means transportation costs are about 13% below the national median. Fargo leads at 87. Note: a low transportation index doesn't guarantee a low overall cost — check the full cost breakdown table below.
The trade-off becomes clearer when you add healthcare into the mix. State context matters: North Dakota's 1 cities average a 92 cost index with $1,096/month median rent and $66,029 household income. Oil-patch wages in a low-cost market. Cross-reference this ranking with the state salary page. The overlap is telling.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
133,188 residents · North Dakota
Why Fargo ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 92 on the cost index, residents save roughly 20% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,096/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — while the median household pulls in $66,029/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 80, though Healthcare (95) lags behind. Home prices average $312,872 — $154,498 below the national median.
Cities are ranked by their transportation cost sub-index within North Dakota. Each sub-index is derived from the overall cost of living with regional adjustment factors. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Fargo ranks #1 in North Dakota for this analysis with a cost index of 92 and median income of $66,029.
Fargo, ND has the lowest transportation index at 87, compared to the national average of 100.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Fargo is $1,096/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $799 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Fargo is $312,872, which is 4.7× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
North Dakota has a 1.95% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 7.04%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.94%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.