With its population growing at 5 percent each year, Bismarck, North Dakota has a searing real estate market with housing prices on average jumping 15 percent in the last 12 months to a median sales price of more than $161,000.

So what's making housing such a good investment in this community of only 58,000 residents? A high-quality of life, low cost of housing and job stability with a large work force employed in the state's capital.

Bismarck consistently has ranked high in quality of life surveys. Expansion Management magazine rated Bismarck among its "Five-Star Communities in 2007," while a Harvard University study of community attitudes and involvement ranked the town 2nd in its list.

Other Top rankings include: rated as safest state in the nation in 10 of the past eleven years; Farmers Insurance rated the city as the Most Secure Place to Live. And maybe that's why the city has nabbed a ranking that most of us wish we could claim: the Number One Least Stressful City.

The latest state of the city report from Mayor John Warford forecasts a healthy rate of growth in the coming years, which will keep up with its past pattern of expansion. Building permits are up 15 percent for the year and in just the last three years, real estate investments there have jumped more than 42 percent.

Published: December 7, 2007

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