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Place dossier plate
SheetND-FOREST-RIVER-ND · Forest River, ND 139 pop · income 44th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Forest River
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Forest River on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Reeder · lowest
35,250
Reeder · lowest
35,250 median HH income
39.2% of the leader · rank #1
Forest River · this city
65,625
Forest River · this city
65,625 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #2
Highland Lake · near
65,625
Highland Lake · near
65,625 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #3
Danville · near
65,625
Danville · near
65,625 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #4
Searles Valley · near
65,625
Searles Valley · near
65,625 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #5
Saunemin · near
65,625
Saunemin · near
65,625 median HH income
73.0% of the leader · rank #6
Atqasuk · highest
89,875
Atqasuk · highest
89,875 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Forest River on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 139.
Forest River ranks in the 44th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
44th
percentile, household income
5th
percentile, home value
7th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Forest River, ND
North Dakota's Forest River is a small town, with 139 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Forest River brings in $65,625 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Forest River's housing stock carries a median value of $86,900, and the median resident age is 48.2 years. 21.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 50.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Forest River (No Permits), per Census BPS data.
Living costs in North Dakota run below the national norm: the state registers 89.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $965 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in North Dakota run around $200, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 22.2 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Forest River's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to population change to work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Forest River, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Forest River?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Is Forest River growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
What does the journey to work look like in Forest River?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 57.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Which cities make useful reference points for Forest River?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within North Dakota, the closest population matches are Noonan (139 residents, $63,958 income); Tolna (139 residents, $43,750 income); Aneta (137 residents, $41,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Equality, AL (139 residents); Atqasuk, AK (139 residents); Hunter, AR (139 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Below median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
89.0 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, North Dakota average
B-
City profile score · Forest River, ND
68/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living A
89.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income D
$65,625
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
21.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Forest River profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 89/100 (A) · 89.0 index
Household income: 43/100 (D) · $65,625
Bachelor's+ share: 39/100 (F) · 21.6%
How does Forest River compare to other US cities?
Forest River measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income44% higher than other cities
Home value5% pricier than other cities
Median rent7% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Forest River against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to North Dakota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
North Dakota-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Forest River near the bottom of North Dakota's cities
Among the 246 North Dakota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Forest River ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Forest River only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#129 of 227
42nd percentile in North Dakota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 246
0th percentile in North Dakota
Median Home Value
#171 of 226
24th percentile in North Dakota
Poverty Rate
#194 of 246
0th percentile in North Dakota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#121 of 246
51st percentile in North Dakota
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within North Dakota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
44th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Forest River's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$86,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 95% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Forest River's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#196 of 15,516
More affordable than 99% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#192 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.3×, Forest River sits in the affordable band:
national rank #196 of 15,516 and #192 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$65,625Forest River, ND median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Forest River, ND median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Forest River, ND.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)21.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
139
Median Income
$65,625
Median Home Value
$86,900
Median Age
48.2
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
50.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
21.6%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Forest River's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
108 residents
2021
108 residents
2022
112 residents
2023
110 residents
2024
109 residents
2025
109 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
3
3
0
$0.6M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
57.6%
Carpool
25.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
15.3%
Work from Home
1.7%
Based on 59 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
North Dakota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $200
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across North Dakota at $200 (electricity about $90 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are North Dakota statewide averages, not a meter reading for Forest River. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
North Dakota's BEA cost-of-living index is 89.0 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Forest River is $965/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to North Dakota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 22.2 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a North Dakota statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Forest River sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Forest River compares to similar-size North Dakota cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.