Living in Oakes, ND
Dickey County
Oakes is a real, small southeastern North Dakota city of approximately 1,769-2,042 people (a real, disclosed cross-source population spread), the largest city in and trade/service hub for Dickey County. Oakes's identity runs genuinely agricultural -- soybeans, corn, wheat, and livestock -- distinctively anchored by the real, current Oakes Irrigation Research Site, an NDSU Extension facility established in 1970 approximately 4.5 miles south of town that continues active crop-irrigation testing today, celebrated annually via the town's own Oakes Irrigation Days. Housing runs dramatically affordable (approximately $170,053 median value) relative to both the national and North Dakota statewide pictures. CHI Oakes Hospital, a 20-bed critical access facility, anchors local healthcare for a regional catchment of approximately 14,000 people. Oakes's own senior (65+) population share runs essentially at parity with North Dakota's own statewide anchor rather than meaningfully above it, driving this record's best-areas (not retiring) topic choice.
Explore Oakes in depth
- Moving to Oakes: Pros, Cons & What to Know
- Cost of Living in Oakes
- Housing in Oakes
- Taxes & Insurance in Oakes
- Climate in Oakes
- Schools & Families in Oakes
- Healthcare & Safety in Oakes
- Pros and Cons of Living in Oakes
- Best Areas to Live in Oakes
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Learn moreHousing
Taxes
Not independently sourced at the Dickey 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 Oakes-specific.
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Get local guidanceThe tradeoffs
Pros
Genuinely, dramatically affordable housing well below both national and North Dakota statewide averages. A real, distinctive agricultural-research identity anchored by the genuine, currently-active Oakes Irrigation Research Site. A real, disclosed below-national property tax rate (1.00%). North Dakota's real, favorable statewide income-tax structure (the lowest top marginal rate of any state with an income tax at all) applies.
Cons
A real, disclosed exposure to central/eastern North Dakota's documented severe-weather profile (tornado, large hail, winter storms). A real, disclosed cross-source population spread this record does not resolve, with at least one citation suggesting a comparatively steep recent decline. No sourced, quantitative crime figure was found for Oakes specifically -- a real, disclosed research gap. Housing and rent figures rely on a comparatively dated (2024-vintage) ACS-style estimate rather than a live listing feed.
Who this fits
Best for: Best fits cost-conscious movers and small-town-agricultural-life seekers drawn to Oakes's genuinely affordable housing, low property tax, and distinctive Oakes Irrigation Area identity.
Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers prioritizing a large, current healthcare system beyond a single small critical-access hospital, or those seeking a documented low-crime statistic rather than a general safety characterization -- both real, disclosed gaps this record does not paper over.
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