Living in Carrington, ND
Foster County
Carrington is the real, current seat of Foster County in central North Dakota, founded in 1883 and functioning as a genuine agricultural trade hub for the surrounding region. Carrington's defining institutional anchor is the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center, a real, current agricultural research facility opened in 1957 studying dryland and irrigated crop production, soil health, and beef cattle feeding, among other programs. CHI St. Alexius Health Carrington, a real, current 25-bed critical access hospital serving central North Dakota since 1916, extends Carrington's healthcare draw across Foster and Eddy Counties entirely and into portions of three more counties. Carrington's population has run a real, disclosed decline (2,080 at the 2020 Census down to an estimated 1,928 in 2026), and its senior (65+) population share runs a real, cited 21.4% -- meaningfully above North Dakota's own statewide figure. Housing runs genuinely, notably affordable (a cited $113,000 median, though this record discloses that figure traces to a single source this pass did not independently corroborate), and crime runs genuinely, substantially low.
Explore Carrington in depth
- Moving to Carrington: Pros, Cons & What to Know
- Cost of Living in Carrington
- Housing in Carrington
- Taxes & Insurance in Carrington
- Climate in Carrington
- Schools & Families in Carrington
- Healthcare & Safety in Carrington
- Pros and Cons of Living in Carrington
- Retiring in Carrington
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Learn moreHousing
Taxes
Not independently sourced at the Foster County level this session. North Dakota's top state income tax rate is 2.50%. See the North Dakota hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Carrington-specific.
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Get local guidanceThe tradeoffs
Pros
Genuine housing affordability, even relative to this project's other affordable North Dakota Tier B markets. A real, distinctive agricultural-research institutional anchor (the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center) and a substantial, real, disclosed multi-county regional hospital draw (CHI St. Alexius Health Carrington). Genuinely, substantially low crime, with one source specifically citing Carrington as a retirement-friendly North Dakota market on that basis.
Cons
A real, disclosed, more pronounced population decline than several other North Dakota Tier B markets this project documents. Foster County's own cited overall property tax rate (1.285%) was described by one source as the highest of any of North Dakota's 53 counties -- a real, disclosed elevated county-level tax picture, even though Carrington's own city-specific rate runs lower. A real, disclosed single-source-reliance gap on the housing median-value figure.
Who this fits
Best for: Best fits retirees and cost-conscious movers seeking genuine, substantial affordability and low crime, particularly those with a direct connection to agricultural research or regional healthcare employment, or those simply prioritizing a quiet, small-town county-seat setting.
Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers prioritizing a growing population or seeking to minimize county-level property tax exposure -- Foster County's own cited property tax rate ran the highest of any North Dakota county per one source this pass reviewed, a real, disclosed factor to weigh even though Carrington's own city rate runs lower.
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