North Dakota sales tax, and who sets it
Tax year 2026
Set by the state
5%
Set locally
2.09%
statewide average
Combined
7.09%
Local share
29.48%
of what you pay
Work out the tax on a purchase in North Dakota
Add the tax on
7.09% effectiveThe general rate applies here: 7.09%, state and local combined. “Statewide average” is a comparison estimate. Named locations use the stored local rate; city and special-district coverage varies, so an address may differ. Rate source · as of 2026-07-01.
How North Dakota's sales tax is put together
- Two governments tax the same purchase in North Dakota. The state takes about 5%. Local government takes another about 2.09% on top on average across North Dakota, and the till adds them together into about 7.09%. Neither one is the whole story, which is why the state rate alone is a poor guide to what you will actually pay.
- Groceries are not taxed in North Dakota. Fill a cart with unprepared food and the sales tax on it is nothing. That is the common treatment, though not the universal one — a few states charge full rate on food, and a few more charge a reduced rate. The line here falls between groceries and prepared food, and it is narrower than it sounds.
- No apparel break in North Dakota. Clothes carry the same sales tax as anything else, working out at $71 per thousand dollars spent. A few states exempt clothing; most, including this one, do not. Prescriptions are exempt, which is the near-universal rule.
- A purchase in North Dakota is taxed by two layers. The state levies about 5%; local jurisdictions levy about 2.09% on average across North Dakota, for a combined about 7.09%. The split is genuinely shared rather than nominal, so the combined figure is address-dependent and the state rate functions as a floor rather than as the rate. Any price comparison drawn across states on state rates alone will misrank North Dakota against its more centralised neighbors.
- North Dakota exempts groceries from sales tax entirely, so unprepared food carries no charge at any rate. This is the majority treatment nationally but far from universal: a small number of states apply the full rate to food and another group applies a reduced one. The consequential detail in an exempting state is the boundary rather than the exemption — where the statute separates exempt groceries from taxable prepared food, and rotisserie chicken, bakery items and heated food are where that line is usually drawn.
- Clothing in North Dakota is taxed at the general combined rate, or $71 per thousand dollars of apparel spending. Only a small minority of states exempt clothing, and where they do the effect on a household's effective rate is larger than most rate-based comparisons imply. Prescription medication is exempt in North Dakota, which is the standard treatment across the sales-taxing states.
Sales tax on this purchase
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $7.09 |
|---|---|
| Rate appliedStatewide average | 7.09% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
Rates across this state
A $75,000 salary
| Counties in this state | 53 |
|---|---|
| Different rates among them | 3 |
| Lowest county rate | 5% |
| Highest county rate | 6% |
Most counties here share a rate with many others. The county line rarely changes what you pay.
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
At the register
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $7.09 |
|---|---|
| You hand over | $107.09 |
| Rate here | 7.09% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
How much of that was tax
A $75,000 salary
| Goods before tax | $99.92 |
|---|---|
| Rate applied | 7.09% |
Uses the selected combined rate for ordinary goods. Exempt items or a mixed receipt change the split.
Every county here
A $75,000 salary
| Lowest | 5% |
|---|---|
| Highest | 6% |
| Gap between them | 1% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
What gets taxed, in each
A $75,000 salary
North Dakota
Statewide average
Texas
Harris County (Houston)
- Sales tax
- Fuel
- Tobacco
| Category | North Dakota | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | Exempt | Exempt |
| Clothing at $100 | 7.09% | 8.25% |
| Fuel | 23¢ | 20¢ |
| Tobacco | $0.44 | $1.41 |
Grocery and general rates use the locations named here. Clothing is one item priced at $100; a more expensive garment may be taxed differently. Fuel and tobacco have separate units and scales.
The split, county by county
The state rate is the same everywhere in North Dakota. Anything beyond it was decided by a county or a city. These counties are a sample chosen to show the range, not a complete list.
| County | State | Local | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide average | 5% | 2.09% | 7.09% |
| Cass County (Fargo) | same | 2.75% | 7.75% |
| Burleigh County (Bismarck) | same | 3% | 8% |
What it costs on a thousand dollars
The same purchase in four categories, priced on average across North Dakota. A flat thousand dollars is used deliberately — this is North Dakota's own rate restated in money, not a claim about what anyone spends.
| What you're buying | Tax as share of price | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| General goods | 7.09% | $71 |
| Groceries | 0% | $0 |
| Prescription drugs | 0% | $0 |
| Clothing | 7.09% | $71 |
Every county in North Dakota
This is the whole state, not a sample — 53 counties, from 5% in Adams County up to 6% in Williams County. These are county floors. City, transit and special-district taxes can add to them, so an address may pay more.
Complete county coverage for North Dakota: 53 counties spanning 5% (Adams County) to 6% (Williams County), across 3 distinct rates. Figures are county floors: the state rate plus the county's own levy, excluding municipal, transit and special-district taxes. The representative location figures earlier in the page may include additional local layers.
| County | State portion | County levy | Floor (state + county) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Barnes County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Benson County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Billings County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Bottineau County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Bowman County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Burke County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Burleigh County | 5% | 1% | 6% |
| Cass County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Cavalier County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Dickey County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Divide County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Dunn County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Eddy County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Emmons County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Foster County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Golden Valley County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Grand Forks County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Grant County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Griggs County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Hettinger County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Kidder County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| LaMoure County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Logan County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| McHenry County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| McIntosh County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| McKenzie County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| McLean County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Mercer County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Morton County | 5% | 1% | 6% |
| Mountrail County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Nelson County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Oliver County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Pembina County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Pierce County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Ramsey County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Ransom County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Renville County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Richland County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Rolette County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Sargent County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Sheridan County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Sioux County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Slope County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Stark County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Steele County | 5% | 1% | 6% |
| Stutsman County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Towner County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Traill County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Walsh County | 5% | 1% | 6% |
| Ward County | 5% | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Wells County | 5% | 0% | 5% |
| Williams County | 5% | 1% | 6% |
Streamlined Sales Tax member rate files plus individual state Department of Revenue rate tables — county-level rows only; city, transit and special-district levies excluded — as of 2026-01-01, last verified 2026-08-29.
What this page does not cover
- The first county table and calculator location list for North Dakota are a sample, not a complete address lookup. They were chosen to show the range rather than to cover every address, so your own county may sit outside what you see. If you have a receipt to hand, the rate printed on it beats any figure on this page.
- North Dakota taxes some things through this general rate and other things through taxes of their own. Fuel, alcohol and tobacco fall in the second group, and those charges sit inside the price rather than on the receipt. Vehicle purchases, hotel stays and eating out often add their own charges as well.
- An exemption is a category, not a promise. North Dakota decides for itself where each category stops — hot food is usually outside the grocery exemption, and accessories are often outside the clothing one. That boundary work is where the real difference between two states with the same rate turns up.
- The first county table and calculator location list for North Dakota are representative rather than exhaustive. The listed jurisdictions illustrate the spread of local rates; they are not a complete enumeration, and an address outside them may carry a rate above or below anything shown. Where a complete county-floor table appears separately below, it covers counties but still excludes additional city and district taxes. Prefer the state revenue authority’s address lookup for a specific purchase.
- North Dakota's general sales tax is one of several consumption taxes it levies, and the only one modeled on this page. Motor fuel, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are taxed under separate excise schedules, normally price-inclusive and therefore not visible as a line item. Lodging, prepared meals and vehicle transfers are frequently subject to additional dedicated rates at state or local level.
- Exemption treatment in North Dakota is recorded here at category level; the operative detail is where the state's statute terminates each category. Heated and prepared foods generally revert to the full rate despite a grocery exemption, and clothing exemptions are typically bounded by price threshold or by use. These definitional boundaries account for much of the divergence between states that appear equivalent on rate and exemption list alone.
Questions people ask
Why is the tax at the register higher than the state rate?
Because the state rate is only the first layer. Counties, cities and special districts add their own on top, which takes about 5% up to about 7.09% — and it changes as you cross town lines rather than staying put.
Is food taxed the same as everything else?
Raw food is exempt in North Dakota. Prepared food is not, and the boundary between them is the part that surprises people.
Is clothing exempt here?
It is not. Clothing takes the standard rate here — only a small group of states exempt it, and North Dakota is outside that group.
Will the rate change if I shop in the next town?
Barely. The local portion is about 29.48% of the combined rate, so a statewide figure is close to right almost everywhere in North Dakota.
What composes the combined rate in this state?
The combined rate is the state levy plus every local levy sourced to the point of sale. North Dakota sets about 5%; the representative combined rate is about 7.09%, of which about 29.48% is decided locally. A single statewide figure is therefore an approximation.
How are groceries classified for sales tax here?
North Dakota exempts groceries from general sales tax. The exemption typically excludes prepared food, and definitional boundaries — utensils supplied, heating, or a seller's prepared-food share — determine which side a specific item falls on. Those tests vary by state and are not uniform.
How is apparel classified for sales tax in this state?
North Dakota applies the standard rate to apparel with no general exemption. Only a small minority of states exempt clothing, and among those several impose per-item caps or exclude athletic and formal wear, so cross-state assumptions about apparel are unreliable.
How much intra-state variation is there in the combined rate?
Locally determined levies account for about 29.48% of the representative combined rate, so intra-state dispersion is limited and the statewide figure approximates most locations closely. Rates remain sourced to the point of sale.