Key Facts
- Per Capita Real GDP
- $34,694 Rank: 31/50 (2007)
- Population
- 641,481 Rank: 48/50 (2008)
- Per Capita Personal Income
- $32,552 Rank: 32/50 (2006)
- Unemployment Rate
- 3.20% Rank: 8/50 (2008)
- Business Tax Climate Index
- Rank: 30/50 (2008)
State Map
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North Dakota: Introduction
North Dakota hugs the Canadian border in the upper Midwest and Great Plains regions of the United States. After its exploration, fur trading became the state’s primary economic activity. The construction of railroads and subsequent settlement of the state brought in droves of Americans who came to work the state’s rich soil. Agriculture has since become the driving force of North Dakota’s economy, spawning the creation of complementary food processing and farm equipment manufacturing industries.
About 90% of North Dakota’s territory is covered by farmland. As a primarily rural state North Dakota holds a population of less than 700,000 residents. The top agricultural outputs of the state are wheat, cattle, soybeans, and corn. The state leads the nation in production of durum wheat, barley and sunflowers.
Mining also contributes a relatively small, though promising, source of revenue. Fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum account for 97% of all mining revenue. Official estimates of the state’s oil deposits range from 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels, which if proved, would significantly increase the nation’s oil reserves. The oil resides in the Williston Basin, which underlies North Dakota as well as parts of South Dakota, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. North Dakota also produces the second most amount of lignite (low-grade coal) in the United States. Some of the lignite beds also contain small amounts of uranium.
