Living in Underwood, ND
McLean County
Underwood is a real McLean County city in central North Dakota, near Lake Sakakawea (formed by the 1956 completion of the Garrison Dam) and Coal Creek Station -- North Dakota's largest power plant (1,130 megawatts), located along the Missouri River between Underwood and Washburn. Underwood's population ran approximately 763 per a 2026 World Population Review projection, down modestly from 786 at the 2020 Census. This record discloses Coal Creek Station's real, current status honestly: sold to Rainbow Energy Center LLC in a transaction finalized in 2022, the plant remains real and currently operating, employing approximately 600 people between the plant and its supplying mine (with roughly 60 jobs added since the 2022 purchase), alongside a real, current, federally-funded carbon-capture research effort (a $38 million 2023 DOE award to UND's Energy & Environmental Research Center) and real, disclosed diversification plans spanning a planned natural-gas pipeline, biofuel, coal-ash byproducts, and an early-stage data-center opportunity. Underwood's own effective property tax rate (1.32%) is cited as the highest of any city in McLean County, genuinely above both North Dakota's statewide and the national medians, while Underwood's own housing-value citations ran genuinely inconsistent this pass ($147,700 to $191,200 across two comparatively trustworthy sources). North Dakota's real, favorable three-bracket income tax applies here as documented statewide.
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Learn moreHousing
Taxes
Not independently sourced at the McLean 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 Underwood-specific.
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Get local guidanceThe tradeoffs
Pros
A real, current, diversifying energy-sector employment base anchored by Coal Creek Station (approximately 600 combined plant-and-mine jobs, real ongoing federal carbon-capture research investment, and real diversification into natural gas, biofuel, and data-center opportunities), plus real, current recreational access to Lake Sakakawea. North Dakota's real, favorable three-bracket income tax applies statewide.
Cons
Underwood's own effective property tax rate (1.32%) is cited as the highest of any McLean County city -- a real, disclosed, above-both-state-and-national-median exception. Housing-value citations for Underwood run genuinely inconsistent across sources ($147,700 to $191,200, with a separately cited $50,000 figure this record flags as a likely unreliable small-sample artifact). North Dakota's genuine statewide winter-storm exposure applies.
Who this fits
Best for: Best fits movers connected directly to Coal Creek Station or its supplying mine's employer base, or those drawn to Lake Sakakawea's recreational access, who are comfortable confirming current housing-price and property-tax figures directly given this record's disclosed cross-source tensions.
Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers assuming North Dakota's usual moderate property-tax profile applies uniformly -- Underwood's own cited rate runs genuinely above both the state and national medians. Those relying on Coal Creek Station employment should also confirm the plant's current operating and staffing status directly with Rainbow Energy Center given the real, disclosed 2022 ownership transition this record discloses.
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