Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA-861, Census ACS, DOE LEAD, FEMA National Risk Index, OpenFEMA NFIP · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Counties in North Dakota ranked

7.5%of income goes to home energy in Sioux County, the highest of 53 North Dakota counties

Williams County is lowest at 1.7%, a gap of 4.5 times. The median North Dakota county sits at 3.8%, against 3.3% for the median U.S. county. Source for North Dakota: DOE LEAD 2022.

North Dakota county map

North Dakota counties, shaded by quintile of the selected measureBurke County: 2.6%Foster County: 3.3%Griggs County: 3.4%Hettinger County: 3.7%Logan County: 6.7%Renville County: 3.5%Oliver County: 3.8%LaMoure County: 4.2%Pierce County: 4.5%Wells County: 3.9%Sheridan County: 4.6%Kidder County: 4.1%Cavalier County: 3.8%Stark County: 2.0%Barnes County: 3.2%Eddy County: 3.9%Richland County: 3.2%Stutsman County: 2.7%Ransom County: 3.8%Rolette County: 4.9%Slope County: 3.8%Bottineau County: 3.5%Walsh County: 4.2%Adams County: 4.1%Williams County: 1.7%McIntosh County: 6.2%Morton County: 2.5%Dunn County: 2.7%McKenzie County: 2.0%Steele County: 3.4%Towner County: 4.3%McLean County: 3.0%Mercer County: 3.4%Divide County: 4.8%Ward County: 2.2%Sargent County: 3.8%Billings County: 3.4%McHenry County: 4.3%Bowman County: 2.8%Grant County: 5.8%Grand Forks County: 2.6%Ramsey County: 3.1%Pembina County: 3.7%Emmons County: 4.3%Traill County: 3.8%Benson County: 5.5%Nelson County: 4.9%Mountrail County: 2.6%Sioux County: 7.5%Dickey County: 4.3%Cass County: 1.7%Burleigh County: 1.8%Golden Valley County: 5.1%
  • 1.7% to 2.7%
  • 2.7% to 3.4%
  • 3.4% to 3.9%
  • 3.9% to 4.5%
  • 4.5% to 7.5%

North Dakota counties, darker = higher. Click one for its page.

Highest energy burden in North Dakota

Sioux County leads North Dakota on burden at 7.5% of income and Logan County follows at 6.7%. For lower-income homes the top is McIntosh County: 20.9% of income, against 11.7% in the median North Dakota county.

home energy burden, % of income, top 10 North Dakota counties

  • Sioux County7.5
  • Logan County6.7
  • McIntosh County6.2
  • Grant County5.8
  • Benson County5.5
  • Golden Valley County5.1
  • Rolette County4.9
  • Nelson County4.9
  • Divide County4.8
  • Sheridan County4.6
  • North Dakota median county3.8
North Dakota counties with the lowest home energy burden
Lowest burden in North DakotaShare of income (ND)Residents (ND)
Williams County1.7%39,368
Cass County1.7%189,286
Burleigh County1.8%98,986
Stark County2.0%33,116
McKenzie County2.0%14,280

Storm reports and FEMA risk in North Dakota

NOAA logged 135 damaging-wind, tornado, tropical, ice, winter and heat reports in Benson County from 2015 to 2025, 2,303 for every 100,000 residents: the most in North Dakota. FEMA scores Burleigh County highest at 85.1 (relatively moderate). In North Dakota these are weather reports and an index, not outage counts.

North Dakota top 5: Storm reports per 100,000 residents
Top 5 in North Dakotareports 2015-2025 (ND)Residents (ND)Rank (ND)
Benson County2,3035,8611st
Traill County1,9927,9802nd
Ransom County1,9785,6623rd
Walsh County1,85910,4884th
Pembina County1,8126,7875th
North Dakota top 5: FEMA risk score
Top 5 in North Dakotascore 0-100 (ND)Residents (ND)Rank (ND)
Burleigh County85.198,9861st
Cass County82.4189,2862nd
Ward County64.869,2323rd
Sioux County62.13,7894th
Grand Forks County57.772,7645th

Flood claims and flood insurance in North Dakota

Grand Forks County has the most NFIP flood claims per 1,000 homes in North Dakota: 5.8 from 2015 to 2025, against 1.3 in the median North Dakota county. Cass County has the highest share of homes with flood insurance (4.5%, median county 0.4%). Claims are a record of insured losses, not outage counts.

North Dakota top 5: Flood claims per 1,000 homes
Top 5 in North Dakotaclaims 2015-2025 (ND)Residents (ND)Rank (ND)
Grand Forks County5.872,7641st
Emmons County4.33,2692nd
Walsh County1.510,4883rd
Cass County1.2189,2864th
Ward County0.869,2325th
North Dakota top 5: Flood insurance penetration
Top 5 in North Dakota% of homes insured (ND)Residents (ND)Rank (ND)
Cass County4.5%189,2861st
Ward County4.5%69,2322nd
Pembina County2.3%6,7873rd
Barnes County2.2%10,7944th
Burleigh County1.7%98,9865th

FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP, as of 8 Sep 2026. Flood claims by county.

Outliers: North Dakota counties far from the state median

10 county-measure pairs sit 3 or more scaled median-absolute-deviation units from the North Dakota median. Most extreme: Cass County, share of homes with flood insurance 4.5% against a median of 0.4%.

North Dakota outliers by deviation from the state median
CountyMeasureValueNorth Dakota medianDeviations
Cass CountyFlood insurance penetration4.5%0.4%+8.8
Ward CountyFlood insurance penetration4.5%0.4%+8.8
Burleigh CountyFEMA risk score85.113.1+4.9
McKenzie CountyHomes built before 198022%68%-4.7
Cass CountyFEMA risk score82.413.1+4.7
Sioux CountyHome energy burden7.5%3.8%+4.2
Pembina CountyFlood insurance penetration2.3%0.4%+4.1
Barnes CountyFlood insurance penetration2.2%0.4%+3.8
Ward CountyFEMA risk score64.813.1+3.5
Cass CountyHomes built before 198035%68%-3.4

Old homes, electric heat and utilities in North Dakota

Griggs County has the oldest stock: 83% of homes date from before 1980. Electric heat is most common in Rolette County at 62% of homes, and Ward County lists 7 utilities, the most in North Dakota.

North Dakota top 5: Homes built before 1980
Top 5 in North Dakota% of homes (ND)Residents (ND)Rank (ND)
Griggs County83%2,3401st
McIntosh County82%2,5122nd
Grant County81%2,2763rd
Nelson County81%3,0154th
LaMoure County79%4,1075th
North Dakota top 5: Homes heated by electricity
Top 5 in North Dakota% of homes (ND)Residents (ND)Rank (ND)
Rolette County62%12,0651st
McKenzie County62%14,2802nd
Towner County61%2,1133rd
Bottineau County60%6,3904th
LaMoure County51%4,1075th

Find your North Dakota county

  • Pick a North Dakota county to see its ranks.

All 53 North Dakota counties, sortable

53 North Dakota counties, all measures
Adams County2,1794.1%13.0%under 5,000 residents4.574%34%2no datano data110
Barnes County10,7943.2%9.1%1,30645.970%48%4no data2.2%141
Benson County5,8615.5%15.7%2,30324.370%30%3no data0.4%135
Billings County9483.4%11.8%under 5,000 residents0.943%43%3no datano data64
Bottineau County6,3903.5%11.4%1,15818.758%60%4no data0.2%74
Bowman County2,9352.8%8.2%under 5,000 residents2.168%20%2no data0.2%106
Burke County2,1632.6%11.7%under 5,000 residents1.072%48%3no data0.1%54
Burleigh County98,9861.8%4.9%16485.142%26%3no data1.7%162
Cass County189,2861.7%5.0%14882.435%49%41.24.5%281
Cavalier County3,6633.8%13.8%under 5,000 residents11.874%37%2no datano data122
Dickey County4,9594.3%11.4%under 5,000 residents15.873%45%4no datano data86
Divide County2,1744.8%16.7%under 5,000 residents5.872%47%3no datano data62
Dunn County4,0432.7%11.7%under 5,000 residents10.848%35%3no data0.6%92
Eddy County2,3193.9%10.2%under 5,000 residents1.871%26%3no data0.3%87
Emmons County3,2694.3%13.9%under 5,000 residents44.367%33%24.30.5%97
Foster County3,3723.3%11.4%under 5,000 residents7.471%38%2no data0.1%86
Golden Valley County1,6795.1%16.4%under 5,000 residents13.174%13%3no datano data79
Grand Forks County72,7642.6%6.4%46257.749%46%35.81.6%336
Grant County2,2765.8%18.6%under 5,000 residents14.881%26%1no data0.2%100
Griggs County2,3403.4%11.1%under 5,000 residents5.183%47%3no data0.1%119
Hettinger County2,4533.7%11.8%under 5,000 residents9.276%28%3no data0.2%109
Kidder County2,3744.1%11.1%under 5,000 residents3.164%26%4no datano data100
LaMoure County4,1074.2%13.0%under 5,000 residents10.979%51%4no data0.7%99
Logan County1,8486.7%19.7%under 5,000 residents9.972%39%3no data0.1%64
McHenry County5,2644.3%15.3%1,63411.772%40%5no data0.8%86
McIntosh County2,5126.2%20.9%under 5,000 residents35.282%40%2no data0.1%85
McKenzie County14,2802.0%7.5%81225.022%62%3no data0.3%116
McLean County9,8073.0%9.6%79543.161%27%5no data0.0%78
Mercer County8,3413.4%12.7%1,22313.954%33%3no data1.7%102
Morton County33,4792.5%6.8%33849.653%18%10.61.3%113
Mountrail County9,5672.6%9.2%1,02421.441%44%6no datano data98
Nelson County3,0154.9%15.3%under 5,000 residents7.981%48%2no datano data150
Oliver County1,8213.8%12.0%under 5,000 residents1.763%23%2no datano data74
Pembina County6,7873.7%11.2%1,81220.976%25%2no data2.3%123
Pierce County3,9614.5%13.3%under 5,000 residents3.273%48%4no data0.1%76
Ramsey County11,5633.1%7.2%1,14218.360%39%3no data0.5%132
Ransom County5,6623.8%10.7%1,97813.266%49%3no data1.2%112
Renville County2,2773.5%11.0%under 5,000 residents1.561%42%5no data0.4%56
Richland County16,5503.2%8.6%1,02135.365%46%4no data0.7%169
Rolette County12,0654.9%12.2%60552.950%62%3no data0.0%73
Sargent County3,8223.8%11.1%under 5,000 residents7.463%44%3no data0.1%98
Sheridan County1,3274.6%12.6%under 5,000 residents5.075%34%4no datano data69
Sioux County3,7897.5%17.1%under 5,000 residents62.147%10%1no data0.3%28
Slope County7953.8%14.1%under 5,000 residents0.672%17%3no datano data98
Stark County33,1162.0%7.3%42637.340%36%2no data0.7%141
Steele County1,7313.4%11.8%under 5,000 residents6.666%42%2no data0.1%129
Stutsman County21,5252.7%8.3%77646.464%30%3no data0.8%167
Towner County2,1134.3%15.4%under 5,000 residents2.073%61%2no datano data80
Traill County7,9803.8%12.4%1,99211.073%40%4no data0.8%159
Walsh County10,4884.2%13.0%1,85929.073%31%21.51.0%195
Ward County69,2322.2%6.8%6264.847%34%70.84.5%43
Wells County3,9423.9%11.0%under 5,000 residents8.678%45%3no datano data88
Williams County39,3681.7%6.6%31553.739%43%4no data0.2%124

Download CSV, 53 rows

North Dakota: click a header to sort. Per-capita storm rates start at 5,000 residents.

Sources

North Dakota sources with periods and retrieval dates
SourcePeriodRetrieved
DOE LEAD (ND)20222 Oct 2026
FEMA NRI (ND)Dec 20252 Oct 2026
NOAA Storm Events (ND)2015 to 20252 Oct 2026
Census ACS (ND)2019 to 20232 Oct 2026
EIA-861 (ND)20241 Oct 2026

North Dakota LEAD figures are group estimates, not bills. Methodology.

Keep going

Other states: Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina.

Questions

Which North Dakota county has the highest home energy burden?

Sioux County: 7.5% of income, against 3.8% for the median North Dakota county (DOE LEAD 2022).

Which North Dakota county has the lowest energy burden?

Williams County at 1.7% of income.

How does North Dakota compare with the whole country?

The median North Dakota county has a burden of 3.8% and the median U.S. county 3.3%, across 53 North Dakota counties and 3,053 U.S. counties with data.

Where do storms cause the most trouble in North Dakota?

Benson County has the most NOAA storm reports per 100,000 residents: 2,303 between 2015 and 2025.

Which North Dakota county has the highest FEMA risk score?

Burleigh County: 85.1, rated relatively moderate by FEMA (Dec 2025).

Where are the oldest homes in North Dakota?

Griggs County: 83% of homes were built before 1980; the median North Dakota county is at 68% (Census ACS 2023).

Which North Dakota county relies most on electric heat?

Rolette County: 62% of homes heat with electricity, against 39% in the median county.

Which North Dakota county has the most flood claims per home?

Grand Forks County: 5.8 NFIP claims per 1,000 homes from 2015 to 2025; the median North Dakota county has 1.3 (FEMA OpenFEMA).

Are storm reports the same as power outages in North Dakota?

No: in North Dakota they are weather reports, not outage counts.

Where can North Dakota households get help with bills?

See the North Dakota help page. Highest burden: Sioux County.

Share this page

7.5% of income goes to home energy in Sioux County, the highest of 53 North Dakota counties