As Fargo, Bismarck and the oil towns grow, the cost and scarcity of housing have become a pressing worry, complicating every employer's search for workers.
Growth brings its own problems, and few press harder on the plains cities than housing. As Fargo, Bismarck and the western oil towns add jobs and residents, the supply of homes and apartments has struggled to keep pace, driving up rents and prices and turning the search for a place to live into a genuine obstacle for the newcomers a growing economy needs.
Nowhere to Put the Newcomers
The oil patch felt it most acutely, where the boom outran the builders and rents briefly rivaled the coasts, but the pinch is real in the larger cities too. Construction lags demand, skilled trades are scarce, and the short building season allowed by the plains winter slows every project. Employers find that a job offer means little if the recruit cannot find a roof.
From the almanac's reckoning:
- Home and apartment supply lags the growth of plains cities.
- The short building season slows construction each year.
- Housing scarcity complicates employers' search for workers.
Cities and builders scramble to catch up, platting subdivisions and raising apartments, but the gap closes slowly. The almanac counts the housing squeeze among the plains' costs of success — the hard truth that a place cannot grow faster than it can house its own.
Elsewhere in the Almanac
The Family Business That Anchors the Small Town
The hardware store, the implement dealer, the funeral home — family businesses handed down through generations remain the backbone of commerce in the plains town.
Tourism Finds Its Footing on the Northern Plains
From the badlands to the lakes to the heritage sites, a growing tourism trade brings visitors and their dollars to a region long overlooked by the traveler.
The Return of Main Street Retail in the College Towns
In the university towns of the plains, a new generation of boutiques, breweries and eateries has revived main streets that big-box stores had left for dead.