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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in North Dakota

3 persistent-poverty counties

North Dakota has 3 persistent-poverty counties and 45 nonmetro counties — home to 21,715 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 10.6% and child poverty is 10.6%.

3

Persistent-poverty counties

45

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

22K

Residents in PPCs

53

Total counties

North Dakota by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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North Dakota at a glance

Poverty rate

10.6%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

10.6%

Under 18

PPC share

5.7%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

84.9%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

3.98

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.30

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides North Dakota's 31 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 53 in North Dakota.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Sioux 0.77
  2. 2 Rolette 0.70
  3. 3 Benson 0.69
  4. 4 Golden Valley 0.37
  5. 5 McIntosh 0.36

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Sioux 42.7%
  2. 2 Rolette 25.1%
  3. 3 Benson 22.2%
  4. 4 Golden Valley 18.0%
  5. 5 Grant 17.4%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Sioux 42.7%
  2. 2 Rolette 25.1%
  3. 3 Benson 22.2%

Every county in North Dakota

All 53 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Adams 9 — Pop. loss 14.5% 15.6% 2,179 0.36
Barnes 6 — Pop. loss 11.3% 13.5% 10,794 0.23
Benson 9 Yes Low emp., Pop. loss 22.2% 30.4% 5,861 0.69
Billings 9 — — 13.0% 0.0% 948 0.35
Bottineau 8 — Pop. loss 7.6% 9.5% 6,390 0.29
Bowman 9 — Pop. loss 9.5% 10.8% 2,935 0.34
Burke 8 — — 5.1% 4.6% 2,163 0.28
Burleigh 3 — — 8.2% 8.8% 98,986 0.11
Cass 3 — — 10.3% 10.1% 189,286 0.12
Cavalier 9 — Pop. loss 7.7% 3.5% 3,663 0.33
Dickey 9 — Pop. loss 10.8% 8.6% 4,959 0.34
Divide 9 — — 7.3% 10.5% 2,174 0.33
Dunn 9 — — 7.2% 11.2% 4,043 0.33
Eddy 9 — Pop. loss 12.8% 11.5% 2,319 0.35
Emmons 8 — Pop. loss 8.4% 6.8% 3,269 0.30
Foster 9 — — 9.1% 5.2% 3,372 0.34
Golden Valley 9 — Retire. 18.0% 36.7% 1,679 0.37
Grand Forks 3 — Housing 13.9% 10.5% 72,764 0.13
Grant 8 — Pop. loss 17.4% 22.6% 2,276 0.33
Griggs 9 — Pop. loss 10.1% 7.3% 2,340 0.34
Hettinger 9 — — 9.3% 9.9% 2,453 0.34
Kidder 8 — Pop. loss 10.3% 9.4% 2,374 0.30
LaMoure 9 — Pop. loss 10.8% 14.4% 4,107 0.34
Logan 9 — Pop. loss 11.5% 12.8% 1,848 0.35
McHenry 3 — Pop. loss 9.8% 12.6% 5,264 0.11
McIntosh 9 — Pop. loss 15.4% 19.3% 2,512 0.36
McKenzie 7 — Retire. 12.8% 14.5% 14,280 0.28
McLean 8 — — 8.3% 9.0% 9,807 0.30
Mercer 8 — Pop. loss 10.7% 15.0% 8,341 0.31
Morton 3 — — 7.0% 5.6% 33,479 0.10
Mountrail 8 — — 13.2% 14.7% 9,567 0.32
Nelson 8 — Pop. loss 10.0% 13.9% 3,015 0.30
Oliver 3 — — 4.7% 2.7% 1,821 0.09
Pembina 9 — Pop. loss 8.7% 7.0% 6,787 0.33
Pierce 9 — Pop. loss 12.2% 16.1% 3,961 0.35
Ramsey 7 — — 16.3% 29.3% 11,563 0.29
Ransom 8 — — 10.9% 20.8% 5,662 0.31
Renville 3 — Pop. loss 7.1% 7.2% 2,277 0.10
Richland 6 — — 10.4% 8.5% 16,550 0.23
Rolette 9 Yes Low emp. 25.1% 28.7% 12,065 0.70
Sargent 9 — — 7.9% 10.0% 3,822 0.33
Sheridan 8 — Pop. loss 8.5% 7.6% 1,327 0.30
Sioux 9 Yes Low emp., Housing 42.7% 54.3% 3,789 0.77
Slope 9 — Pop. loss 6.4% 1.4% 795 0.33
Stark 5 — — 11.0% 8.3% 33,116 0.19
Steele 8 — Pop. loss 13.3% 23.6% 1,731 0.32
Stutsman 7 — — 12.4% 5.9% 21,525 0.27
Towner 9 — Pop. loss 11.5% 9.1% 2,113 0.35
Traill 8 — Pop. loss 6.9% 4.3% 7,980 0.29
Walsh 8 — Pop. loss 10.5% 10.4% 10,488 0.30
Ward 3 — — 7.8% 4.6% 69,232 0.11
Wells 9 — Pop. loss 10.5% 15.8% 3,942 0.34
Williams 5 — — 8.8% 10.2% 39,368 0.19

Find a food pantry in North Dakota

Search North Dakota's 31 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

North Dakota pantry directory

North Dakota SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

North Dakota SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

North Dakota food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology