Official Federal Data
Grand Forks County, North Dakota
FIPS 38035 · Grand Forks, ND-MN · Population 72,923
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$68,075 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
2.3% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$5.9B ▲
GDP
38% ▲
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$68,075 ▲
Per Capita
$40,347 ▲
Mean Household
$92,591 ▲
Poverty Rate
13.2% ▼
Median Income Comparison
Grand Forks County$68,075
North Dakota$76,657
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 21.2%
18-34 · 34.6%
35-54 · 20.3%
55-64 · 9.7%
65+ · 14.2%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
95.9%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▲ +6.3 pts
38%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▲ +2.3 pts
13.4%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▼ 0.7 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
72,923
Population
41,995
Labor Force
Employed
39,777
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
2.3% ▲ +0.2 pts YoY
Mean Commute 11 min below national avg
15.8 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
6.5%
Key Takeaways
- Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
- Young population: Median age of 31 is materially below the U.S. norm, a workforce pipeline asset.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Retail Trade employs 5,609 workers (25% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $38,298.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $5.9B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $100,345 while Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation averages $16,268, a 6.2x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
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Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Retail Trade Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
4,027
Cluster Employment
2.15x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Building Material and Garden Supply Retailers
2.15x 776
Utilities
2.00x 318
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Misc. Retailers
1.82x 711
Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
1.73x 1,558
Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers
1.60x 862
General Merchandise Retailers
1.60x 1,368
Furniture, Home Furnishings, and Other Retailers
1.53x 310
Food Manufacturing
1.52x 712
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing
1.52x 134
Couriers and Messengers
1.50x 444
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.15x
Warehousing and Storage
73 employed
0.30x
Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
208 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Building Material and Garden Supply Retailers concentrates at 2.15x the national norm.
- Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$252,700 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$992 ▲
Rent/Mo
51.8% ▲
Owner-Occ
7.7% ▲
Vacancy
3.7x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$863/mo
1 Bedroom
$868/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,089/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,515/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,827/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$1,702/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.7x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- Affordable rent tiers: 4 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,702/mo).
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
47,089 ▲
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 11 min below national avg
15.8 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
6.5%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
84.5%
of prime-age population
▼ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
38% ▲
HS Diploma+
95.9% ▲
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
10,038/yr
3,449/yr
3,143/yr
1,150/yr
1,078/yr
649/yr
569/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
15%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
39.6%
Service
18.4%
Sales & Office
19.2%
Construction / Maint.
8.2%
Production / Transport
14.5%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 39,777 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Short commutes: 15.8-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
- Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 7,742 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
Grand Forks County shows emerging potential for building material and garden supply retailers attraction, with a 2.15x concentration and 776 jobs in this sub-sector.
The interconnected base across building material and garden supply retailers, utilities, and sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and misc. retailers creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Grand Forks County, North Dakota, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Grand Forks County, North Dakota?
72,923 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Grand Forks County, North Dakota?
$68,075 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Grand Forks County, North Dakota?
2.3% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Grand Forks County, North Dakota?
$5.9B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
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