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I have in-laws and friends in Minot and I live about 70 miles north of Fargo and have been there many times over the almost 15 years in the area.
That said....Fargo is part of a metro area with population of near 200,000 if you combine West Fargo and Moorhead MN and surrounding towns. There are 3 colleges (North Dakota State in Fargo with just over 13k students, Concordia and Minnesota State Moorhead across the river in Moorhead). It is the main metro area in the state and the North Dakota side of the metro area (Fargo and West Fargo) have been growing steadily for decades and is the shopping hub of the state. Fargo area is a great area and has always been the cheapest place to live in the state, with housing/rent lower, gas lower than the rest of the state.
Minot has been bursting at the seems lately....and housing has been very tough of late. Pop is likely up over 40k but there is no surrounding cities/towns around much unlike Fargo. Minot Air Force base is just to the north and has taken on several new missions in the last few years and has grown. There was a terrible river flood in June 2012 which caused some severe damage to several neighborhoods along the Souris/Mouse river. That along with being on the eastern edge of the oil field....you have a situation of more people needing housing than supply in most cases and thus rents have risen dramatically. There has been an explosion in hotels/restaurants in the city and they are having trouble filling service oriented jobs due to lower pay and higher cost of living. There is Minot State Univ in town.
While I like Minot overall, it cannot really be compared to Fargo. Fargo area is so much bigger and right now so much easier to find a place to live with just as much job opportunities. There is no oil in eastern ND, so if you specifically hope to find an oil job then this area wont work.
As many posts on this forum have stated, the issue with just moving to Minot or Williston is housing. You can find a job in either location. It may not be oil related, but service oriented places are begging for help. Housing is very hard to come by and very expensive. Fargo is way less expensive with a bigger supply of apartments and being a larger city has a better bus line. Minot bus service would be meager and being without a car in Minot or Williston would be hard to deal with. Fargo would be better suited for that.
Now, is Fargo feeling any "trickle down" from the oil in Western North Dakota? I'd imagine wages for service jobs are lower in Fargo than Williston. But in a way, I'd bet they are still on average higher than a major metropolitan area like Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami or New York. My hunch is that some folks from Fargo have already headed west and many if not most newcomers to North Dakota are heading to where the oil is located. Thus, employers in Fargo need to be competitive. Unless, there is a larger enough labor pool in neighboring Minnesota.
I am not familiar with wages in particular. But Fargo area is pretty removed from the oil region and thus there isnt the competition for workers as out west. But I do think there has been a movement east of some folks that have been priced out from the western part of the state. Wages in most things wouldnt be as high as out west and more typical of other areas of the country.
Fargo will have the bigger college, more shopping, close to the cities, larger population, etc. Minot is in growing pains and for those who have the entreprenurial spirit, this is the time to jump in. Make sure you bring workers. We have already had one restaurant close down for lack of workers. Housing is getting better than a year ago, with today over 200 homes on the market. Apartments are becoming more available as they are being built. Our hotel rooms which were 95% occupied is now down to 85% occupied, which is still 20% higher than the national average. We still have 2 more hotels being built. With all of this, the prices for homes and rentals are dropping as the inventory increases. Fargo has always had a large supply and at one time, had over 1500 homes on the market.
As Dan alluded to, comparing wages in Fargo and Minot completely depends on the industry. Construction-related jobs are paying higher in Minot & Williston, and thus Fargo is losing some of its labor force in the skilled trades. Not sure if local employers are responding to that yet.
But Fargo has always paid more positions such as teachers, CNA's, etc. And with Microsoft having a major presence and with the NDSU Technology Park, there have been many more jobs in the tech sectors in Fargo.
Minot has been bursting at the seems lately....and housing has been very tough of late. Pop is likely up over 40k but there is no surrounding cities/towns around much unlike Fargo.
Looks like Minot will have legitimate suburbs in the next 3-5 years.
Quite possibly then Fargo is the place to use as a "stepping stone."
I would say for now that may be the best case...maybe you can save up some money get settled in a bit and then learn more about what skills you have if you want to head to the oil area. Housing is a bit better and certainly cheaper in Fargo. No oil jobs in Fargo, but that doesnt mean you cant start off somewhere else and then work up. Good luck!
Hi, I don't know much about North Dakota at all. But how would you compare Fargo to Minot? Thanks!
Apples to Brazil nuts.
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