Why are smaller towns in Minnesota and Iowa so much cheaper then smaller houses in Nebraska and the Dakotas (real estate)

[lovecrowds]

I think it is interesting how Iowa and Minnesota small towns are so much more affordable then smaller towns in Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota.

It seems like certain smaller towns in Iowa like Fort Dodge that home prices are as low as 40 dollars per square foot.

Cities like New Ulm, Minnesota have many, many homes that are less then 50 dollars per square foot.

In North Dakota it seems like smaller towns like Wahpeton and in Nebraska smaller towns like Norfolk and Hastings it is more like 80 dollars per square foot.

For the price of a smaller house in small towns in Nebraska and North Dakota, one could buy a mansion sized house in many smaller towns in Iowa and Minnesota

[Joe Mantegna]

I can't speculate on all of the locations and differences between them but I know for North Dakota in particular the oil boom led to a major housing shortage which made real estate prices go up pretty significantly. This was a couple of years ago so it's lower now but still probably artifically high

[mr roboto]

OP is a serial weird thread poster. And has lived 9 difference places in the last year.

[kapie9969]

Look at the available jobs and consider property tax rates before you move. The upper midwest property taxes were shocking to me. The winter fuel bills on top of that struck many places off my list of places to live.