The number of housing units in North Dakota has grown an average of 1 percent per year since 2000, reaching 313,332 units in 2008.

This month’s “Population Bulletin,” a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, presents the July 1, 2008, housing unit estimates released from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Division.

These estimates reveal a continuing increase in the number of North Dakota housing units. In 1950, housing units totaled 175,769, compared with 289,677 in 2000. This represents a 65 percent increase during this 50-year period. Current estimates suggest another 8 percent growth from 2000 to 2008.

“Fear of another energy boom and bust cycle has held back much of the potential housing growth in the western side of the state,” says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director.

Metropolitan areas are the largest contributors to housing growth in the state. From 2000 to 2008, 70 percent of all growth statewide was attributed to Cass and Burleigh counties.

Nationally, housing grew 11 percent from 2000 through 2008, with counties in the Great Plains region showing some of the slowest rates of growth.

NDSU Agriculture Communication