North Dakota Property Tax Calculator (Assessed Value & Millage Rates)

At an average effective rate of 0.96%, North Dakota ranks #20 among the 50 states, putting it above the national median. Nationally, the average effective rate runs close to 1.0%, which puts North Dakota close to the national average of roughly 1.0%. That's well below the Midwest regional average of about 1.35%.

As in most of the Midwest, property tax revenue in North Dakota funds local school districts, county services, and municipal budgets rather than flowing through a state-level general fund, so the rate is effectively set locally even though the average is reported statewide.

Because assessment and appeal procedures in North Dakota are administered locally rather than by a single statewide office, the exact timeline for a reassessment or an appeal can vary by county. The sections below outline the exemptions and appeal windows generally available to owners who want to contest a valuation.

North Dakota stacks two reductions before any mill rate applies: true and full value is halved to reach assessed value, and residential property is then taxed on 9% of that, so the taxable base is a small fraction of the market price. A primary residence credit is subtracted from the resulting bill.

None of that detail is asked for here. This calculator works one level up, applying North Dakota's average effective property tax rate of 0.96% to the value you enter. That rate is the ratio of property taxes actually paid to home value across the state, so the assessment ratios, caps, and exemptions described above are already baked into it.

Working through it in order:

1. Start from true and full value. Local assessors value property annually, and half of that becomes assessed value.
2. Apply the residential ratio and credits. The 9% residential rate produces taxable value, and the primary residence credit then reduces the calculated tax.
3. Multiply by the effective rate. At 0.96%, a $400,000 home in North Dakota comes to $3,840 a year before any exemption you enter above.
4. Divide by twelve for escrow. That same home works out to $320.00 a month set aside in a mortgage escrow account.
5. Compare it against your own bill. North Dakota mill rates look high precisely because the base they apply to is so small. Your county's number is the one that governs; this figure tells you whether it is roughly where a North Dakota home of that value ought to land.

Using this calculator's baseline inputs: a $400,000 home in North Dakota, taxed at the state's 0.96% average effective rate (rank #20 of 50 states).

1. Start with the assessed value. The home is assessed at its full $400,000.00 market value, with no homestead exemption applied in this baseline scenario.
2. Apply the effective rate. $400,000.00 × 0.96% = $3,840.00 in annual property tax, North Dakota's statewide average effective rate.
3. Convert to a monthly escrow. Lenders typically collect property tax in twelve equal installments alongside principal and interest: $3,840.00 ÷ 12 = $320.00 per month.
4. Project a five-year hold. At a flat rate, five years of ownership totals $3,840.00 × 5 = $19,200.00, before any reassessment, exemption change, or millage increase.

At 0.96%, North Dakota lands roughly in the middle nationally, ranking #20 of 50 states. That is a moderate but still material carrying cost for homeowners.

North Dakota's 0.96% sits almost exactly at the national median, and the engine applies it as a single statewide effective rate, so the sweep is linear from the first row to the twelfth.

The slope: $10,000 of value at a time. Raising the assessed value from $400,000 to $410,000 moves the annual tax from $3,840.00 to $3,936.00. Every additional $10,000 of North Dakota valuation costs exactly $96.00 a year, at every value the calculator accepts. Doubling the value to $800,000 doubles the tax to $7,680.00 to the cent.

What the table actually steps through. The table steps the value in increments of $66,666.67, from $66,666.67 in row one to $800,000 in row twelve, and the tax column rises by exactly $640.00 on every row without a single break. Row six carries the $3,840.00 baseline; row twelve carries $7,680.00, which is precisely double it.

Inverting the calculation. Divide by 0.0096. A $10,000 annual bill corresponds to $1,041,666.67 of assessed value, and the $400,000 baseline is the value that produces the $320.00 monthly escrow line. Because the relationship is exactly linear with no cap, no cliff and no minimum, there is no valuation at which the arithmetic bends.

Tracing a $25,000 entry through both outputs. Entering a $25,000 exemption reduces the taxable assessed value to $375,000 and the annual tax to $3,600.00, a saving of $240.00 a year against the $3,840.00 the page returns with the field at zero. That reduction reaches the headline, the monthly escrow figure and the twelve-row schedule alike. With $25,000 entered, row six prices $400,000 of value at $3,600.00, the same figure as the headline, and row one falls from $640.00 to $400.00. Because every row nets the same exemption off before applying the 0.96% rate, the table can be read straight across against the result above it rather than being treated as a separate gross-value answer.

Escrow against annual tax, and the gap between them. The escrow figure is where the common error lives. The monthly line the engine reports is $320.00, being $3,840.00 divided by twelve. Lenders frequently collect a cushion of up to two months on top, so a servicer's actual monthly draw on this property can run above $320.00 without any of the tax figures on this page being wrong. Comparing a servicer's escrow line directly against $320.00 and concluding the assessment is wrong is the mistake this page most often provokes.

What the rate is standing in for. North Dakota's 0.96% is a statewide average of consolidated mill levies set by counties, cities, school districts and townships. The engine holds no mill levy table and applies no assessment ratio, even though North Dakota assesses residential property at 50% of true and full value and then applies a 9% taxable ratio to that. The state's Primary Residence Credit, worth up to $1,600 against a primary residence bill, is not applied either; entering it in the exemption field would be wrong, because that field reduces value rather than tax.

• Specific hyper-local county and municipal millage district variations within North Dakota.
• Special assessment or rural improvement district charges. Some North Dakota cities and counties levy additional assessments on benefiting parcels for street, drainage, or sewer improvements on top of the base county and school millage; the specific list of districts varies by jurisdiction.
• Commercial vs residential assessment classification differentials.
• Property tax appeal reductions or localized board of equalization adjustments.

• Confusing Market Fair Value with Assessed Basis: Some jurisdictions assess property at fractional ratios rather than 100% of market value.
• Failing to File Homestead Paperwork: Homestead exemptions are rarely automatic; homeowners must file timely paperwork with the county appraisal district.
• Underestimating Post-Sale Supplemental Assessments: Purchasing a newly constructed or reassessed property often triggers catch-up supplemental tax bills.
• Ignoring Property Tax Appeal Windows: Missing the annual 30-to-60 day statutory protest window forfeits the right to challenge over-assessed property values for that tax year.

• U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey (ACS) Real Estate Assessment Benchmark Data. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
• North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner: Property Tax Assessment Guidance. tax.nd.gov