The bipartisan State of the Nation Project has collected extensive data on North Dakota and compared it with other states. Below we provide a brief progress report that shows the state rank and trend for each measure.
North Dakota ranks higher, on average, on the topics of Children and Families (2), Work and Labor Force (5), and Education (6), but lower on Social Capital (31), Civil Liberties (45), and Economy (48). North Dakota also outperforms its Midwest neighbors in 1 of the 14 topics and is improving over time on 9 of the 27 measures.
North Dakota Summary Table
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Children & FamiliesState
TrendState
Rank-
Child Mortality16
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Low Birthweight5
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Youth Depression18
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Children Living With Single Parent4
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Citizenship & DemocracyState
TrendState
Rank-
Voter Participation20
-
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Civil LibertiesState
TrendState
Rank-
Freedom of the Press45
-
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EconomyState
TrendState
Rank-
Economic Output47
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Productivity43
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EducationState
TrendState
Rank-
Academic Test Scores13
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Average Years of Education16
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Young Adults Employed or in School2
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EnvironmentState
TrendState
Rank-
Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions28
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Air Quality7
-
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InequalityState
TrendState
Rank-
Income Inequality14
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Poverty2
-
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Life SatisfactionState
TrendState
Rank-
Satisfaction with Current LifeNANA
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Social Isolation21
-
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Mental HealthState
TrendState
Rank-
Depression29
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Fatal Overdoses4
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Suicide Rate33
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Physical HealthState
TrendState
Rank-
Life Expectancy17
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Social CapitalState
TrendState
Rank-
Volunteerism27
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Trust in Other PeopleNANA
-
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TrustState
TrendState
Rank-
Trust in the Federal GovernmentNANA
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Trust in ScienceNANA
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ViolenceState
TrendState
Rank-
Murder Rate13
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Shootings17
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Work & Labor ForceState
TrendState
Rank-
Employment-to-Population Ratio (EPOP)2
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Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR)4
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Long-Term Unemployment Rate9
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Hourly Earnings Growth21
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How to Read This Report:
We report each measure three different ways: State Rank, State Trend, State vs. US Trend. Each result is color coded as either red (negative/worsening), yellow (neutral/stable), or green (positive/improving), as indicated below. If the simple trends were erratic, had too few data points, or had no data points, we do not color code and label the trend as “mixed,” "unclear," or "NA," respectively.
State Rank
(Where are we now?)
State Trend
(Where are we going?)
State vs. US Trend
(How do we compare?)
Top third of states
(i.e., ranks 1-17)
Improving
Trendline is improving by >5% and most points are improving relative to the first data point.
Improving
Trendline is improving relative to the national trend and rank is improving by 2+ rank spots.
Middle third of states
(i.e., ranks 18-34)
Neutral/Stable
Doesn't fall into improving, worsening, mixed, unclear, or NA categories.
Neutral/Stable
Trendline is improving/worsening the same amount as the national trend or rank is changing by <2 spots.
Bottom third of states
(i.e., ranks 35-51)
Worsening
Trendline is worsening by >5% and most points are worsening relative to the first data point.
Worsening
Trendline is worsening relative to national trend and rank is declining by 2+ rank spots
Mixed
Large shares of points are improving and worsening by >5% in different parts of the trend.
Mixed
This label only applies when a measure has more than 1 trendline. One trendline is improving and another is worsening.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a trend.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a comparison.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
For more information on our definitions and methods, please see the Data Notes section.
