Living in Grafton, ND
Walsh County
Grafton is the real Walsh County seat, a northeastern North Dakota town in the Red River Valley, sited along the Park River. Its population ran a real, cited 2026 projection of 3,989, down a real, genuinely modest -4.11% since the 2020 Census -- a gradual, disclosed decline rather than a sharp drop. Grafton's most distinctive feature relative to this project's other three North Dakota Tier A markets is its median age (43.2), meaningfully, substantially older than North Dakota's own statewide figure and the oldest of the four ND markets in this project's dataset by a wide margin -- a real basis for this record's RETIREE_POPULATION tag. Unity Medical Center, a real 14-bed Critical Access Hospital, anchors substantial local healthcare access (a real, favorable contrast with nearby Casselton's clinic-only care), and Marvin Windows & Doors' roughly 500-employee manufacturing facility adds a real, current private-sector employment pillar alongside healthcare, retail, and agriculture. Housing costs ran genuinely low (~$217,000 median sale price), well below both North Dakota's own statewide average and this project's national comparison figure, even amid a real, disclosed, steep year-over-year price increase. Property taxes run genuinely, notably high by the Grafton-city-specific citation this record uses as primary (~1.87% effective rate), alongside a real, well-documented Park River flood history that a substantially completed, multi-mile levee and bypass-channel flood-risk-reduction project has since addressed.
Explore Grafton in depth
- Moving to Grafton: Pros, Cons & What to Know
- Cost of Living in Grafton
- Housing Market in Grafton
- Buying a Home in Grafton
- Renting in Grafton
- Taxes in Grafton
- Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Grafton
- Climate & Weather in Grafton
- Jobs & Economy in Grafton
- Schools in Grafton
- Crime & Safety in Grafton
- Healthcare in Grafton
- Traffic & Transportation in Grafton
- Best Areas to Live in Grafton
- Pros and Cons of Living in Grafton
- Retiring in Grafton
- Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Grafton
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Learn moreHousing
Taxes
Not independently sourced at the Walsh 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 Grafton-specific.
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Get local guidanceThe tradeoffs
Pros
Genuinely affordable housing (~$217,000 median sale price, well below both North Dakota's statewide average and this project's national comparison figure). A real, substantial local hospital (Unity Medical Center, 14 beds) uncommon for a town Grafton's size, and a real, favorable healthcare contrast with this project's Casselton, ND record specifically. A genuine, multi-sector local economy (healthcare, retail, agriculture, and Marvin Windows & Doors' substantial manufacturing presence). A notably older median age (43.2) genuinely supportive of retiree-oriented relocation, the only one of this project's four North Dakota markets built this pass to carry that profile.
Cons
Genuinely, notably elevated property taxes by the Grafton-city-specific citation this record uses as primary (~1.87% effective rate), alongside a real, disclosed within-Ownwell discrepancy against a lower, Walsh-County-wide figure this record does not resolve. A real, well-documented historical Park River flood exposure, disclosed alongside the real, substantially completed flood-risk-reduction infrastructure that has since addressed it. A real, disclosed, steep year-over-year housing-price increase (27.3% on median sale price) signaling a rapidly changing, not static, local market. Real gaps in confirmed, dated crime-rate and school-performance data.
Who this fits
Best for: Best fits retirees and pre-retirees seeking genuinely affordable Red River Valley small-town living with real, local hospital-level healthcare access, first-time homebuyers, and those connected to Grafton's real, disclosed multi-sector local economy (healthcare, manufacturing, retail, agriculture).
Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers seeking North Dakota's lowest property taxes -- Grafton's city-specific citation runs genuinely, notably above both national and state averages. Those highly averse to any disclosed historical flood exposure should also weigh this record's disclosed Park River flood history directly, even though a substantially completed, engineered flood-protection project has addressed it since at least 2006.
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