The number of housing units in North Dakota has grown an average of 1 percent per year since 2000, reaching 316,435 units in 2009.

This month’s “Population Bulletin,” a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, presents the July 1, 2009, 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.

“Housing growth has been an interesting irony for North Dakota recently,” says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director. “Even though we have had a robust economy this decade, the housing expansion has been modest, especially in the western counties where housing demand has soared due to energy development activity.”

The North Dakota metropolitan counties of Burleigh, Cass, Grand Forks and Morton, along with the western counties of Stark, Ward and Williams, are the largest contributors to growth in housing since 2000.

In contrast to the growth in housing, the state’s population has remained relatively unchanged during the past several decades. Changes in household composition help explain this apparent contradiction.

In 1950, people living alone made up 9 percent of all households. By 2009, the percentage of people living alone more than tripled to 31 percent. With more people living by themselves, North Dakota’s average household size has declined. In 1950, North Dakota households averaged 3.7 people each. In 2009, the average household size dropped to 2.2 people per household.

Nationally, housing grew 12 percent from 2000 through 2009. However, counties in the Great Plains region showed some of the slowest rates of growth.

NDSU Agriculture Communication