ND must have the best economy in the U.S (Fargo: foreclosure, house)

[Jay F]

I say that for two reasons..

1.North Dakota is one of only two states (Texas being the other) that has a balanced budget.

2.North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

[gearedtowardssalad]

3. Only 600,000 people.

[Roloff1976]

Jay, yes we are very fortunate to have such a low unemployment rate and also one of the lowest forclosure rates in the nation. Even though we have only around 642,000 residents in North Dakota, we still are doing better than other states with smaller or similar populations, and on a per average, we are doing much much better than larger population states like ...say .....Arizona, where unemployment is much higher, as is Arizona's foreclosure rates per capita. The energy industry is still booming here in ND, as well as agriculture, which tend to keep us sheltered somewhat from this recent recession. But, even as the rest of the country appears to have bottomed and hopefully will start turning around soon..., our economy didn't even come close to what has happened in the majority of the country...and as we speak...our economy is again growing in ND. We had a surplus of over 1billion dollars that our legislatures had a wonderful time spending...even state employees will be getting 5% raises over the next 2 years...pretty nice considering many other states are nearly bankrupt. We are fortunate here in ND and things appear to only be getting better for us with the continued surge in energy development and hopes for a good year for our farmers.
We are also very excited to have Lake Sakakawea filling up to almost normal levels (something we haven't seen since the early 90's) which will only further bolster the tourism industry for fishermen and hunters (as the prairie potholes fill for ducks and geese to produce and live).
We in North Dakota appreciate the kudos' as we at times have to defend ourselves against nay sayers who don't live here, or have not spent any time in North Dakota, but they preach as if they know everything about us. Those of us living here are happy to be here. NOTE: WE LOVE coming down to Vegas!!!! I know things will be back to normal there soon too.

[HighPlainsDrifter73]

One of the things I've heard about North Dakota's finances it that they play things pretty much on the conservative side. Not going out on a limb to buy things and avoiding reckless spending. Too bad the whole country wasn't like this. We wouldn't be in the mess were in. I will be so happy in a couple of years when I become a North Dakota resident.

[Jay F]

Originally Posted by gearedtowardssalad

3. Only 600,000 people.

But the other state with a budget surplus, Texas, ranks #2 in population.

Also, the other states with low population have higher unemployment rates. For example Vermont has 7.1% unemployment compared to ND at 4.0%.

So there has to be more to it than simply population.

[Minneapolis Guy]

They do get a lot of federal aid as well. For every dollar they pay they get like $1.30 back. Where MN pays in a dollar and gets .73 cents back.

[Roloff1976]

I'm wondering if the high percentage of Federal Money coming into the state is because of our small population base and taken into account we do have several Indian reservations, 2 air force bases, a national park, and many farmers who take advantage of the federal government farming programs offered such as putting their land into crp (where the government pays them not to farm their land)

[thomjoe]

I won't disagree ND is a great state in many respects, but there are many faults. The state just does not promote higher paying jobs, plain and simple. I moved from Fargo to Minneapolis over 20yrs ago to find a job, period. Granted it has gotten better in Fargo, but the same job I have here in Minneapolis would only pay 1/3 in Fargo what I make here My house is homesteaded, unlike ND, and I have everything I want close by. (Trader Joe's, Costco, Ikea, etc). Home prices in Fargo are not far behind the Cities in some respects. OK, live in Moorhead, but you are still making far less wages overall than you would in MSP. That is sad.

[tijlover]

Best not to use a bullhorn to advertise that the economy is doing so well in ND or you'll have a doubling of your population before you know it, and you'll have bi-lingual signs sprouting up all over the state and a California-like state budget deficit as well.

[Fischer_girl]

You know... before I moved out of ND in Feb... I never felt the economy struggle. Infact..I would believe..or be willing to bet..that most North Dakotans (myself still included) wouldn't even know there was trouble with the economy had it not been on every channel and ever magazine cover!