Wellll, North Dakota will be certainly be enjoying these bragging rights. Not only do they land in the top 10 of the countdown, the Dakota to the south of them landed at #45. As the 19th largest state by land area, North Dakota is also ranked 47th in both population and density. It has a slightly lower than average cost of living, at 1.1% below the national average and 0.7% lower than South Dakota, according to MERIC.