July 5, 2001

North Dakota has High Proportion of Rental Housing

Housing units in North Dakota totaled 289,677 in 2000. Of these housing units, 88.8 percent were occupied. According to the recent Population Bulletin released from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, approximately one-third (33.4 percent) of all occupied units were renter-occupied in 2000, slightly less than 34.4 percent in 1990. The number of renter-occupied housing units in North Dakota rose 3.5 percent to 85,853 between 1990 and 2000.

North Dakota had the 12th highest proportion of renter-occupied units in 2000. In New York, 47 percent of the occupied housing units were renter-occupied, placing it first in the nation, followed by Hawaii at 43.5 percent and California at 43.1 percent.

"The high proportion of rental units in North Dakota is a housing alert we need to heed," said Richard Rathge, director of the State Data Center. "The highest concentrations of rental units are in our state’s largest cities and reservations. Nearly half of the housing stock in Cass County (45.7%) and Grand Forks County (46.1%) are rental units while the majority of housing units in Sioux County (53.7%) are rental. This may signal the need for more affordable housing or it may signal that residents want to be mobile. In either case, the consequences are significant and something we need to address," said Rathge.

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Source: Richard Rathge, (701) 231-8621, richard_rathge@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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