Special Report

This is the Worst City to Live in North Dakota

Samuel Stebbins

Published: May 25, 2021 7:00 am

The COVID-19 pandemic was a public health crisis that sent shockwaves through the U.S. economy — and the country’s social fabric. In addition to claiming over half a million American lives, the pandemic sent unemployment soaring and exacerbated existing problems, as drug overdoses and crime rates spiked in some parts of the country.

Even before the pandemic, however, there were cities and towns already grappling with severe social and economic distress. These communities have long struggled with challenges such as high unemployment, poverty, crime, drug misuse, and limited access to essential services.

Based on a weighted index of two-dozen social and economic measures, 24/7 Wall St. identified the worst place to live in every state. We considered cities, towns, villages, and census designated places home to at least 8,000 people.

Of the nine cities in North Dakota with sufficient data, Jamestown, located in the eastern half of the state, ranks as the worst place to live. Over the last five years, the number employed Jamestown residents fell by 4.4%. Meanwhile, every other city in the state added jobs over the same period. Perhaps due in part to reduced job opportunities, the local poverty rate of 14.7% is higher than the 10.7% state poverty rate, and labor force participants in Jamestown are more likely to be out of work than their workers across the state as a whole.

Home values can be indicative of an area’s desirability as a place to live, and in Jamestown, the typical home is worth $144,800, the lowest of any city in the state and well below the $193,900 median home value across the state as a whole.

Our index is composed of data across four categories: affordability, economy, quality of life, and community. Data is all for the most recent year available and came from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, The Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other sources. This is the worst city to live in every state.