UNITED STATES – North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong is challenging a new study that ranks the state among some of the worst in the U.S. when it comes to its economic climate.
North Dakota is 48th in WalletHub’s 2025 best and worst state economy rankings.
For WalletHub’s study, the website compared all states and the District of Columbia across 28 indicators, including gross domestic product growth to exports per capita, and change in nonfarm payrolls.
North Dakota was 51st in change in GDP, 47th in startup activity, but tied for first with South Dakota, Vermont, Montana and Nebraska for having the lowest unemployment rate.
The U.S. Department of Bureau Statistics says North Dakota’s rate is 2.6 percent.
Countering the WalletHub survey, Armstrong’s office says North Dakota recently placed 12th in U.S. News and World Report‘s study.
Armstrong’s communications director Mike Nowatzki says the governor signed several bills into law this year to support economic growth.
That includes authorizing $100 million through a Bank of North Dakota line of credit to buy pipeline capacity and improve building a natural gas pipeline from the Bakken to Eastern North Dakota.
The staffer also points out Armstrong signed a bill creating a $30 million incentive program to attract “value-added” agriculture projects to North Dakota like the proposed Agristo potato processing plant in Grand Forks.
In Minnesota, the state placed 30th in WalletHub’s rankings and 28th in U.S. News and World Report’s.
Minnesota is also 43rd in economic activity, but third for medial annual income in the WalletHub study.
