Home / States / North Dakota vs Utah

North Dakota vs Utah

Regional price parities head to head: how far the same dollar goes in North Dakota and Utah, with rents and goods split out. North Dakota is the cheaper side. Statistics, not reviews.

Price gap 11%Cheaper North DakotaHousing rents +51%Source BEA RPPRelease v2026-08Price gap 11%Cheaper North DakotaHousing rents +51%Source BEA RPPRelease v2026-08Price gap 11%Cheaper North DakotaHousing rents +51%Source BEA RPPRelease v2026-08Price gap 11%Cheaper North DakotaHousing rents +51%Source BEA RPPRelease v2026-08Price gap 11%Cheaper North DakotaHousing rents +51%Source BEA RPPRelease v2026-08Price gap 11%Cheaper North DakotaHousing rents +51%Source BEA RPPRelease v2026-08

Rents · U.S. = 100

+51% in UTA

Utah rents run 37% higher

71.4North DakotaUtah107.8

five bands of the 51-state ladder · green cheaper → red pricier · BEA RPP · public domain

How expensive · of 51

23 places apart

Utah is mid-table: #31 of 51 cheapest

#8North DakotaUtah#31

ranked cheapest #1 → priciest #51 · BEA overall parity

Safety · 0–100

NOR +1 pts

North Dakota is safer by 1 point

80North Dakota · 2.52/100kUtah · 2.67/100k79

score 0–100 from the FBI homicide rate · higher is safer · FBI CDE · Costely score

6Grocery pricesBLS measuredstate columns · Costely estimate

Food prices: North Dakota vs Utah

Estimated from the measured U.S. average shop price × the state's goods parity — North Dakota 95.7, Utah 96.4. The gap between the two columns is the same on every row, because both come from one national price through parity.

Item NOR UTA
Eggs, grade A largeEgg prices swing severalfold within a year on bird-flu cycles ($2.19 in July 2026 against $4.95 at the 2025 peak). The measurement month matters more here than in any other row. per dozen $2.09 $2.11
Chicken, fresh, whole per lb $1.92 $1.93
Chicken legs, bone-in per lb $1.65 $1.66
Chicken breast, boneless per lb $3.97 $4.00
Ground beef, 100% beef per lb $6.59 $6.64
Ground beef, lean and extra lean per lb $8.05 $8.11
Ground chuck, 100% beef per lb $6.56 $6.60
Chuck roast, USDA choice, boneless per lb $9.22 $9.28
Steak, sirloin, USDA choice, boneless per lb $13.96 $14.07
Bacon, sliced per lb $6.30 $6.35
Ham, boneless, excluding canned per lb $5.26 $5.29
Pork chops, center cut, bone-in per lb · May 2026 $4.69 $4.73
Milk, fresh, whole, fortified per gallon $4.13 $4.16
Milk, fresh, low fat per gallon $3.64 $3.66
Butter, salted, grade AA per lb $3.75 $3.78
Cheese, American, processed per lb $4.54 $4.58
Ice cream, prepackaged per half gallon $5.59 $5.63
Bananas per lb $0.62 $0.63
Oranges, navel per lb · June 2026 $1.47 $1.48
Potatoes, white per lb $0.90 $0.91
Tomatoes, field grown per lb $1.92 $1.93
Bread, white, pan per lb $1.74 $1.75
Bread, whole wheat, pan per lb · May 2026 $2.69 $2.71
Flour, white, all purpose per lb $0.52 $0.52
Rice, white, long grain, uncooked per lb $1.05 $1.06
Sugar, white, all sizes per lb $0.98 $0.99
Coffee, 100%, ground roast per lb $8.92 $8.98
Orange juice, frozen concentrate per 16 oz $4.61 $4.64
Potato chips per 16 oz $6.28 $6.32
Soft drinks, 2 litre per 2 litres $2.17 $2.18

State grocery prices are calculated with parity, not measured. Costely estimate: the measured U.S. average price (BLS Average Price Data, retrieved 15 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API) × the state's BEA goods parity. Note: the BLS does not publish grocery prices for individual states. Petrol and household energy are deliberately absent here — goods parity fails on them, so they carry real per-state EIA prices in their own block instead. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · both public domain. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. Neither agency's emblem is used and neither endorses this site.

1Moving to Utah

North Dakota → Utah
Overall price level+11%
Biggest swingHousing rents +51%

5What it means

Same lifestyle, new price

$1,000 in North Dakota buys what $1,111 buys in Utah

because the same basket is priced 10% lower in North Dakota — 89.0 against 98.9 on the BEA parities.

state averages · estimate

4Actual pay BLS QCEW

Private-sector pay, before tax

Averages, not medians — large salaries lift them above what a typical worker earns.

Average monthly payWorth after local prices
North Dakotaaverage pay $6,010 $6,753
Utahaverage pay $6,119 $6,187

North Dakota — $566 more a month in real terms

The order flips once prices are taken into account: the bigger paycheck is not the bigger income.

Source: BLS QCEW, 2025 Q4; monthly = weekly × 52 ÷ 12; the price adjustment divides by the BEA overall parity — both Costely calculations. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.

5Pay by occupationBLS OEWS · measured

Salary compared: North Dakota and Utah

Annual median wage, all industries, May 2025. Sorted by the widest gap between North Dakota and Utah — these are measured wages, before tax, with no adjustment for local prices.

Occupation NOR UTA Diff
Real Estate Sales Agents $73,920 $50,720 -31%
Secondary School Teachers $61,210 $76,330 +25%
Elementary School Teachers $60,030 $74,810 +25%
Lawyers $106,880 $132,830 +24%
Software Developers $105,600 $128,810 +22%
Mechanical Engineers $86,330 $102,500 +19%
Janitors and Cleaners $37,750 $32,200 -15%
Nursing Assistants $45,820 $39,840 -13%
Firefighters $55,080 $48,310 -12%
Marketing Managers $125,580 $139,830 +11%
Financial Managers $135,890 $150,450 +11%
Carpenters $57,890 $52,360 -10%
Medical and Health Services Managers $105,170 $114,980 +9%
Security Guards $39,310 $42,700 +9%
Home Health and Personal Care Aides $39,440 $35,880 -9%
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand $45,690 $42,370 -7%
Receptionists $39,530 $36,960 -7%
Computer Systems Analysts $105,470 $98,770 -6%
Accountants and Auditors $75,730 $79,990 +6%
Electricians $65,710 $62,000 -6%
Welders and Cutters $62,000 $58,380 -6%
Retail Salespersons $36,040 $33,900 -6%
Registered Nurses $80,730 $84,600 +5%
Construction Laborers $49,070 $46,550 -5%
Fast Food and Counter Workers $30,080 $28,670 -5%
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers $74,500 $77,310 +4%
Childcare Workers $30,290 $31,630 +4%
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters $63,560 $61,900 -3%
Customer Service Representatives $44,670 $43,140 -3%
Pharmacists $142,040 $144,240 +2%
Civil Engineers $98,190 $96,830 -1%
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General $49,840 $50,450 +1%
Bookkeeping and Accounting Clerks $49,710 $49,440 -1%
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants $47,480 $47,050 -1%
Medical Assistants $45,980 $45,360 -1%
Waiters and Waitresses $30,890 $31,150 +1%
General and Operations Managers $98,170 $97,850 0%
Truck Drivers, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer $60,910 $60,620 0%
Cooks, Restaurant $36,470 $36,490 0%
Cashiers $31,460 $31,600 0%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, retrieved 15 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API · public domain. Wages are reproduced as published; the ordering and the Diff column are Costely calculations. Note: Estimates are medians for all workers in the occupation statewide, produced by a model-based method using three years of survey data and the 2018 SOC. Occupations with too few workers in a state are suppressed by the BLS and are left blank. A dash means the BLS does not publish that occupation for that state. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. The BLS emblem is not used and the BLS does not endorse this site.

4cHousing and property taxCensus ACS

What housing costs: North Dakota and Utah

Medians from the American Community Survey, 2020-2024 five-year estimates. Census marks a figure published as it stands; Costely marks a ratio we worked out from those figures.

Measure NOR UTA Diff
Median rent gross rent, per month Census, as published $954 $1,496 +57%
Median home value owner-occupied homes Census, as published $249,900 $489,400 +96%
Property tax median paid per year Census, as published $2,468 $2,525 +2%
Effective property tax rate tax as a share of home value Costely calculation 0.99% 0.52% -47%
Median household income per year Census, as published $76,657 $95,166 +24%
Home value against income years of median income to buy Costely calculation 3.3× 5.1× +55%
Owner costs mortgage, tax, insurance, utilities Census, as published $1,037 $1,603 +55%
Rent against income median rent as a share of income Census, as published 25.0% 28.9% +16%
Big electricity bills homes paying $250 a month or more Costely calculation 16% 10% -38%

A state with no income tax still has to raise money somewhere, and property tax is usually where. On the median home that is $2,468 a year in North Dakota against $2,525 in Utah — worth weighing against any difference in pay.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 5-year estimates, 2020-2024 five-year estimates, retrieved 17 August 2026 · public domain. Tables used: B25064 median gross rent; B25077 median value of owner-occupied homes; B25103 median real estate taxes paid; B19013 median household income; B25088 median selected monthly owner costs; B25071 median gross rent as a share of household income; B25132 monthly electricity costs. Note: Medians are for the whole state across the five years, not a current asking price. The effective property tax rate, the price-to-income ratio and the share of homes with a large electricity bill are worked out by us from the tables above. Rows marked Census are reproduced as published; the ratios, the difference column and the all-state average are ours and are not Census publications.

4bEnergy pricesEIA · measured

Electricity, gas and petrol prices: North Dakota and Utah

Retail prices from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Every row carries its own mark: EIA where the figure is reproduced as published, Costely where we converted or worked it out ourselves.

Measure NOR UTA Diff
Electricity cents per kWh EIA, as published May 2026 13.61¢ 12.96¢ -5%
Natural gas dollars per thousand cubic feet EIA, as published May 2026 $11.39 $10.26 -10%
Petrol dollars per gallon Costely conversion 2024 $3.32 $3.33 0%

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (August 2026), retrieved 15 August 2026 · public domain. Electricity: Electric Power Monthly, retail sales of electricity, residential sector, cents per kilowatt-hour. Natural gas: Natural Gas Monthly, price of natural gas delivered to residential consumers, dollars per thousand cubic feet. Petrol: State Energy Data System, motor gasoline price in the transportation sector, dollars per million Btu. Note: Electricity and gas prices are monthly and are shown as published. Where a state has not yet reported the latest month, the most recent month it did report is used and named on the card. Petrol is published per million Btu for every state, so the price per gallon is our own conversion at the EIA factor of 5.053 million Btu per 42-gallon barrel; the EIA publishes a price per gallon only for a handful of states. Rows marked EIA are reproduced as published; anything marked Costely — the conversion to a price per gallon, the difference column and the all-state average — is our own calculation and is not an EIA publication. The EIA emblem is not used and the EIA does not endorse this site.

3Climate · state capitals NASA POWER · PUBLIC DOMAIN

Weather and climate: North Dakota against Utah, month by month

How warm and how wet each month is, averaged over twenty years. Measured in Bismarck and Salt Lake City — the capital city, not the whole state.

Pinch with two fingers to zoom · double-tap to reset.

Bismarck · North Dakota Salt Lake City · Utah

Warmest

July in both — 23.0° vs 23.7°

Coldest

January — -9.9° vs -4.5°

Kinder months to visit

Jun–Sep in Bismarck · Jun–Sep in Salt Lake City

Source: NASA POWER, MERRA-2 monthly climatology 2001–2020, grid cell of the capital · U.S. public domain. “Kinder months” is our reading: 15–26 °C mean and moderate rain.

6bSimilar statesBEA RPP · public domain

States priced like these

The closest states by overall price level, with the gap against each side of this pair. Every row opens a full comparison.

Neighbours are ranked by the distance in BEA overall price parity; the percentage is the gap in that parity, a Costely calculation. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · public domain. The BEA does not endorse this site.

6Reader verdict

Your call — which one fits you better?

Tap an option — your anonymous vote counts instantly.

8FAQ

Common questions
Which state is cheaper overall?

North Dakota. The BEA price parity is 89.0 against 98.9, where the U.S. average is 100 — a gap of 11%.

Does a higher salary make up for higher prices?

Not always. The card above divides average earnings by each state’s price parity, and the order can change once prices are taken into account.

Where does the difference actually sit?

Mostly in housing. The rent tile at the top of the page usually shows a far wider gap than the overall price level does.

Are these figures for the whole state?

Yes — state averages. A city and a rural county inside the same state can differ more than the two states differ from each other.

10bPlan your move

Which one suits you?

Fill in your situation — we score this pair against your numbers, then check the other 81 countries for a better fit.

Languages you speak

Guidance from published statistics, not immigration or financial advice — see the disclaimer.

7Sources & licences

Every figure, traceable

Our calculations, not official figures.

Sources: BEA Regional Price Parities · BLS Current Employment Statistics · U.S. Census Bureau · U.S. Energy Information Administration · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics · BLS Average Price Data · FBI Crime Data Explorer · NASA POWER · U.S. Energy Information Administration · release v2026-08

Regional price parities

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis · Regional Price Parities by state, table SARPP · reference year 2024, released February 2026 · bea.gov · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Parities are reproduced as published, with the U.S. average set to 100 by the source itself. Gaps, rankings and the “cheaper side” wording are Costely calculations. Note: the BEA does not endorse this site.

Grocery prices

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Average Price Data, Consumer Price Index programme, U.S. city average · retrieved 15 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API · bls.gov/cpi · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. The U.S. column reproduces the measured price as published. Note: the BLS does not publish grocery prices by state; the state columns are Costely estimates — the national price multiplied by the state's BEA goods parity — and are labelled as such on the page. Fuel and household energy are excluded from that method deliberately, because goods parity does not describe them. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. The BLS emblem is not used and the BLS does not endorse this site.

Housing and property tax

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau. Rights holder: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey, 5-year estimates, 2020-2024 five-year estimates, retrieved 17 August 2026 via the Census Bureau Data API · census.gov/data/developers · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Tables: B25064 median gross rent; B25077 median value of owner-occupied homes; B25103 median real estate taxes paid; B19013 median household income; B25088 median selected monthly owner costs; B25071 median gross rent as a share of household income; B25132 monthly electricity costs. Figures are reproduced as published and are never altered while still being attributed to the Census Bureau; the effective tax rate, the price-to-income ratio, the share of homes with a large electricity bill, the difference column and the all-state average are Costely calculations. Note: Medians are for the whole state across the five years, not a current asking price. The effective property tax rate, the price-to-income ratio and the share of homes with a large electricity bill are worked out by us from the tables above. No attempt is made to identify any individual respondent, and no Census media assets are used.

Energy prices

Rights holder: U.S. Energy Information Administration · residential electricity, residential natural gas and motor gasoline prices, retrieved 15 August 2026 via the EIA API v2 · eia.gov/opendata · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially, with the EIA cited as the source and the publication date given. Electricity and natural gas are reproduced as published. Note: Petrol is published per million Btu for every state, so the price per gallon is our own conversion at the EIA factor of 5.053 million Btu per 42-gallon barrel; the EIA publishes a price per gallon only for a handful of states. The difference column and the all-state average are Costely calculations and are not EIA publications. The EIA emblem is trademarked and is not used here, and nothing on this site implies EIA endorsement or approval.

Pay by occupation

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — annual median wage, all industries, statewide, series datatype 13 · May 2025, retrieved 15 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API · bls.gov/oes · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially, with the BLS cited as the source. Wages are reproduced as published; the ordering of rows and the difference column are Costely calculations. Note: these are medians for all workers in an occupation across a whole state, before tax and before any adjustment for local prices. Estimates are medians for all workers in the occupation statewide, produced by a model-based method using three years of survey data and the 2018 SOC. Occupations with too few workers in a state are suppressed by the BLS and are left blank. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. The BLS emblem is not used and the BLS does not endorse this site.

Private-sector pay

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages — average weekly wage, private ownership, aggregation level 51 statewide · 2025 Q4, retrieved 20 August 2026 via the QCEW open data files · bls.gov/cew · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Weekly wages are reproduced as published; monthly figures and the price adjustment are Costely calculations. Note: these are averages, not medians, and cover only employment covered by unemployment insurance. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. The BLS emblem is not used and the BLS does not endorse this site.

Retail energy prices

Rights holder: U.S. Energy Information Administration (August 2026) · motor gasoline, residential electricity and residential natural gas by state · retrieved 15 August 2026 · eia.gov · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Prices are reproduced as published; the comparison against the average across states is a Costely calculation. Note: the EIA logo is a registered trademark and is not used here; the EIA does not endorse this site.

Earnings and hours worked

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Current Employment Statistics, State and Metro Area — average hourly earnings and average weekly hours, total private · series SMU..000000500000003 and SMU..000000500000002 · June 2026, retrieved 13 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API · bls.gov/sae · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Monthly totals, the price-adjusted column and the year-on-year change are Costely calculations. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. Note: the BLS emblem is not used and the BLS does not endorse this site.

Unemployment rate

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Local Area Unemployment Statistics · series LAUST..0000000000003, seasonally adjusted · June 2026, retrieved 13 August 2026 · bls.gov/lau · public domain. Rates are reproduced as published; the comparison between states is ours. Note: the most recent months are preliminary and revised later by the BLS.

Monthly temperature and rainfall

Rights holder: NASA Langley Research Center · POWER Project, MERRA-2 monthly climatology, T2M and PRECTOTCORR · averaging period January 2001 – December 2020 · retrieved 13 August 2026 · power.larc.nasa.gov · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Each figure is the model grid cell containing the state capital, reproduced as published. Note: a state capital is not the whole state, and the “kinder months to visit” band is a Costely reading, not a NASA recommendation.

Homicide rate and safety score

Rights holder: Federal Bureau of Investigation · Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting — summarized homicide offence rate per 100,000 population · reference year 2024 (2022 where a state has not yet reported a full year) · retrieved 14 August 2026 · cde.ucr.cjis.gov · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. The 0–100 score is a Costely transformation, clamp(105 − 20·ln(1 + rate), 0, 100), the same formula we apply to countries. Note: reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so agency coverage varies by state and year; the score measures homicide only and is not an official safety rating. The FBI does not endorse this site.