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Bismarck ranked #74 on Money Magazine’s bi-annual list of “Best Places to Live”, up substantially from its 2008 rank of #97. Bismarck was ranked highest of the 3 North Dakota cities ranked, with star trek online credits Fargo at #86 and Grand Forks #97.
Released every 2 years, the list ranks cities that have populations between 50,000 and 300,000 based on numerous factors, including cost of living, crime rates, employment trends, education, weather, quality of life, and leisure and culture (ie. access to venues like museums and theaters). This year’s list contained 745 cities.
Eden Prairie, Minnesota – a suburb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul – topped the list.
You have to consider salaries when determining cost of living, in addition to costs. The list’s #1 city, Eden Prairie, is a high-income suburb of the Minneapolis metro, so when considering the average income vs. average housing costs in that city, the cost of living is actually pretty low.
According to the statistics listed on the report, Bismarck’s median income is about 56% of the average home cost, but Eden Prairie’s income is 67% of the average home cost. That means the COL in Bismarck is actually 11% higher than the #1 ranked city.
In order to equal the COL, the median family income in Bismarck would have to increase by $13,360/year; or the average home cost would have to decrease by $20k.