What salary do you need to live in Bismarck, ND?

The cost side of living in Bismarck

Census figures put the median gross rent in the Bismarck, ND metro at $820 for a one-bedroom, $993 for a two-bedroom and $1,367 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $173 a month, and the third bedroom another $374.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $306,400. That works out to 3.6× the local median household income of $85,156, a mid-range ratio.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 91.0 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Bismarck has the buying power of roughly $109,861 at national average prices.

Bismarck: the pre-tax income for each grade

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $31,000, Okay at $62,000 and Comfortable at $124,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 10% of income and the median home is 2.5× income.

Royal, the top band, starts at $294,000. At that income rent is 4% of pay and the median home 1.0× income.

Nothing here is a separate rule of thumb; plug any of these incomes into the calculator with two bedrooms and Bismarck shows the matching grade.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Bismarck

On $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 54 and a three-bedroom 46, both Okay; the extra bedrooms cost points but not a grade.

The two-bedroom column turns Comfortable at the $150,000 row. One row up, $100,000 scores 59.

How Bismarck ranks among 387 metros

On price level Bismarck is 268th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 297th, and on median home value 145th. Rent and overall prices don't line up exactly, with prices in the middle half and rent in the bottom quarter.

Michigan City-La Porte, IN ($994) and Roanoke, VA ($993) bracket Bismarck on two-bedroom rent.

Bismarck in a North Dakota context

Statewide, North Dakota's median two-bedroom rent is $950 and its median home value $249,900. Bismarck's rent is +5% against that, and its home value +23%; the price parity is 91.0 versus 89.0 for the state.

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $105,000 — below Bismarck's $124,000 line.

Looking for somewhere comparable without leaving North Dakota? Fargo, ND-MN, Minot, ND, and Grand Forks, ND-MN have the closest mix of rent and overall prices.

Where the typical Bismarck household lands

A household at the Bismarck median income of $85,156 would see a two-bedroom score of 54 — Okay — with rent at 14% of income. Put differently, Bismarck's typical household is $38,844 below the $124,000 it takes to read Comfortable on two bedrooms. For North Dakota as a whole, the median household income of $76,657 scores 56 against statewide rents. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.