Pembina, North Dakota.
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to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$698 (+84%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- North Dakota$1,526
- United States$1,922
Living in Pembina, Pembina County, North Dakota
Pembina is a city of 512 people in Pembina County. Half its households earn more than $101,875 a year and half less, against $68,393 across Pembina County; 8% of its people live below the poverty line. 77% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 23% are rented. Unemployment in Pembina County was 5.8% in August 2026, and the county had 1.6% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in government, then transport and warehouses.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Pembina is a very small city in the northeastern corner of North Dakota, on the Pembina River close to the Canadian border. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and household incomes run well above the county's, with a smaller share of people living in poverty than many places. Winters are long and very cold, summers are warm, and the year brings a modest amount of rain and melted snow.
Work. Residents work mainly in government, transport, warehouses and utilities, manufacturing, and schools, hospitals and social care. Across Pembina County, some of the largest workplaces are American Crystal Sugar Company, Motor Coach Industries and North Border Schools. Unemployment in the county is higher than it was a year earlier, though the county has slightly more jobs than it did the year before, and few people here work from home.
Things to do. The Pembina State Museum is in or beside town, and the Pembina River runs through the area, so both are easy to reach. The Joe River is a short drive away for a look at more of the local waterways. Icelandic State Park, a protected area, is a longer drive away.
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- 228households
- 24%of adults have a degree
- 8%below the poverty line
- 6%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Pembina County had 3,335 jobs in 2025, 1.6% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 13° and lows near -5°; warmest in July, with highs near 79° and lows near 57°. About 22 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Pembina weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Pembina County
- American Crystal Sugar CompanyBeet sugar refining275
- Motor Coach IndustriesBuses assembling on chassis of own manufacture120
- North Border 100 SchoolsSchool district80FTE
- Mayo ConstructionPavement, highway, road, street, bridge or airport runway, construction70
- Cavalier 6 SchoolsSchool district63FTE
- Pembina County Memorial HospitalCritical access hospital52FTE
- Valley-edinburg 118 SchoolsSchool district50FTE
- Pembilier Nursing CenterSkilled nursing facilities43
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 8 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 761 people in all across the county; Pembina has one of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Winter weatherVery high
- Cold wavesVery high
- Ice stormsRelatively high
- LightningRelatively high
- HailRelatively moderate
- Strong windRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Pembina’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Pembina County.
Pembina home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Pembina6
Zip codes with a Pembina address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Pembina — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.
Zillow publishes no zip-level series with this city on the address.