Billings County, ND
Property Data

The Loneliest County in America's Breadbasket

Billings County, North Dakota doesn't just have low population density — it has almost none. With fewer than 950 residents spread across nearly 1,150 square miles of badlands, buttes, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, this is one of the least-populated counties in the contiguous United States. At 0.83 people per square mile, you're statistically more likely to encounter a wild bison than a neighbor. That extraordinary isolation shapes everything about how real estate and community function here — and the data tells a genuinely strange and fascinating story.

Key Statistics

A Paradox Built on Land and Oil

The headline numbers don't add up until you understand the local economy. A median household income of $81,250 — solidly above the national median of $75,149 — seems remarkable for a county with 372 total households, no public transit, and zero SNAP or public assistance recipients. What's driving it? Western North Dakota's Bakken Formation. Billings County sits at the edge of one of the most productive oil and gas regions on earth, and the royalty income and extraction-sector wages that flow through this tiny population push earnings to levels that belie the remote scenery. The mean household income — listed at a staggering $38 million — is almost certainly a data artifact from extreme top-end outliers, but it points to something real: a small number of landowners holding mineral rights to enormously valuable subsurface assets.

When a 29% Vacancy Rate Isn't a Crisis

In most markets, a vacancy rate approaching 30% signals collapse. Here it signals something else entirely: seasonal cabins, ranch support structures, and recreational properties tied to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the surrounding badlands. Tourism and hunting bring visitors who need somewhere to stay without needing a permanent address. That same dynamic explains the $630 median rent — extraordinarily affordable even by rural standards — paired with virtually zero rent burden (just 10% of income, compared to the 30% crisis threshold). Nobody is being priced out of Billings County.

An Aging, Self-Reliant Community

With 27% of the population over 65 and a median age of 44.7, Billings County skews old — not unusual for remote agricultural counties losing younger generations to cities. What's unusual is the near-zero child poverty rate alongside an adult poverty rate of 13%, suggesting that families with children are relatively insulated while single older residents face more financial precarity. The 62.1% labor force participation rate reflects a community where retirement, ranching, and resource royalties replace traditional employment for a meaningful share of residents.

FAQs

What makes Billings County, North Dakota unique? It's one of the least-populated counties in the lower 48 states, yet residents earn above the national median income — largely driven by oil and gas royalties from the Bakken Formation and ranch land ownership. Combined with Theodore Roosevelt National Park on its doorstep, Billings County is defined by extraordinary land value in both the economic and scenic sense.

Is Billings County affected by North Dakota's oil boom? Yes, though less directly than Mountrail or McKenzie counties at the Bakken's core. The mineral rights and royalty income that flow to legacy landowners here have kept incomes elevated even as the county's population and workforce remain small. The boom created wealth without necessarily creating residents.

Why is housing so affordable here if home values are near the national average? Because incomes are high relative to home prices. The price-to-income ratio sits at roughly 4x — right at the national benchmark — meaning buying a home here is about as financially accessible as anywhere in America, which is itself a rare distinction in today's market.