Fargo, ND
Fargo, ND-MN Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Fargo, ND-MN Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Fargo ranks 104th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 141st for income. A household earns $76,945 a year while median rent runs $997/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 9% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is job market (2nd of 300), while hazard safety is the soft spot (186th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 42nd and home prices 146th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Fargo, your take-home is worth about $67,242 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 141st of 300↑22.5%$76,945
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 66th of 30091 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $84,675
- Per-capita income
- $45,900
- Full-time pay
- $45,859
Housing
- Median rent
- 42nd of 300↑22.3%$997/mo
- Home value
- 146th of 300↑27.1%$300,200
- Property tax
- $3,503/yr · 1.2%
- Sales tax
- 7.05%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 2nd of 3001.9%
- Bachelor's+
- 69th of 30040.6%
- Avg commute
- 3rd of 30016.9 min
People
- Population
- 267,793
- Population change
- +8.8%
- Median age
- 34.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 6.8%
- Broadband
- 91.4%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 42nd of 30038
- Natural-hazard loss
- 186th of 300$15/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 15th of 30014.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 6.5%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Commute
- + Air quality
- + Health
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — fargo hector intl ap.
What jobs pay in Fargo
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $276,530
- IT managers
- $152,990
- Pharmacists
- $142,040
- Financial managers
- $136,970
- Lawyers
- $111,090
- Software developers
- $105,980
- General & operations managers
- $96,410
- Civil engineers
- $95,530
- Registered nurses
- $82,120
- Electricians
- $76,950
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,420
- Police officers
- $76,180
- Web developers
- $66,860
- Plumbers
- $63,350
- Secondary school teachers
- $60,460
- Elementary school teachers
- $60,210
- Carpenters
- $58,940
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,900
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $52,040
- Construction laborers
- $49,340
- Customer service reps
- $40,900
- Janitors
- $37,200
- Retail salespersons
- $35,860
- Cashiers
- $33,420
- Waiters & waitresses
- $30,330
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Fargo metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in North Dakota are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Arizona479
- South Dakota458
- Washington404
- Wisconsin313
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Fargo
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Fargo metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Fargo metro?
- Median gross rent across the Fargo, ND-MN Metro Area is $997 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Fargo.
- What is the median household income in the Fargo metro?
- A typical household in the Fargo, ND-MN Metro Area earns $76,945 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Fargo expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Fargo, ND-MN Metro Area runs about 9% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Fargo metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $84,675 (versus its face value of $76,945). CityLedger rates the Fargo, ND-MN Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Fargo metro?
- The median home value across the Fargo, ND-MN Metro Area is $300,200 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Fargo metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Fargo, ND-MN Metro Area is 1.9% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).