Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / North Dakota

Minot, North Dakota

Minot is a small city of about 47,000 people in Ward County, North Dakota. It's the county seat. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.5 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Minneapolis, is about 442 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
47,308
down 2.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$257,100
Ward County prices up 12% since 2022
Household income
$73,219
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Minot area
87
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Trinity Hospitals
To Minneapolis
442 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 13% below the U.S. average in the Minot metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Minot itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town18 public schools: 12 elementary, 2 middle, 3 high schools and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byTrinity Hospitals is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMinneapolis is about 442 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Minot meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$257,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 12%Ward County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$973 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$73,219U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
57%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,054 a yearNorth Dakota: $2,468
Homes built before 1940
9%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
25%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
87U.S. average = 100 (the Minot metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 12% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Minot metro area, not Minot alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
47,3082020: 48,385
Median age
33.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
14%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
22%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
30%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
11%U.S.: 6%
College students
7%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (26%); retail (14%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (9%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
20 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
5%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Trinity Hospitals, Minot, ND, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

18 public schools in Minot, run by Minot 1 and Nedrose 4.

Colleges in or next to town: Minot State University (1,000 to 4,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on North Dakota's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
81%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
90%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
4°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
13 a year
Nights at or below freezing
177 a year
Rain and melted snow
16.7 inches a year
Snow
45 inches a year
Elevation
1,552 feet

Weather station: Minot Intl Ap (1 mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Bismarck, Minneapolis.

Ward County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

12 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Eastwood Park Historic District, the Minot Commercial Historic District and the Minot Industrial Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site59 miles

Campus life. Check Minot State University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Minot's history on Wikipedia.

Know Minot?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Ruthville, ND (unincorporated)104 people, 9 miles
  • Des Lacs, ND182 people, 13 miles
  • Sawyer, ND307 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.