This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for personal injury in North Dakota, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a personal injury in North Dakota costs on average $4,050, typically $1,600-$8,100 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 6-12 months to resolve. Common related costs include court filing fee ($200-$500) and medical records and bills ($100-$500).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $450 | $1,350 | $2,700 | 3-6 months |
| Moderate | $1,600 | $4,050 | $8,100 | 6-12 months |
| Complex | $4,050 | $12,100 | $24,200 | 12-36 months |
Last verified: June 2026
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</script>Personal injury cost formation works differently from most other legal matters because the attorney fee is usually contingent — a percentage of any settlement or verdict rather than an hourly bill. That percentage typically rises if the case proceeds to litigation or trial rather than settling early, since more attorney hours and case costs are involved. If there is no recovery, the client generally owes no attorney fee, though case costs (filing fees, expert reports) may still apply depending on the retainer agreement.
Separate from the attorney's percentage, a personal injury case accumulates its own case costs: expert witness fees (medical experts, accident reconstructionists), records requests, deposition transcription, and court filing fees if a lawsuit is filed. Simple claims that settle directly with an insurer before litigation avoid most of these costs; complex cases involving disputed liability, multiple parties, or serious injury typically require the full expert and litigation cost stack.
Take a moderate-complexity personal injury matter in North Dakota. The recorded median total is $4,050, with reported quotes clustering between $1,600 and $8,100. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,800–$6,000, which leaves roughly $0–$2,250 of the North Dakota median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. One further recorded fee is not itemised above and is not in that total.
At $4,050, the median personal injury cost in North Dakota runs 18% below the $4,928 national average across all 50 states and DC.
North Dakota carries 3 rows — simple, $450–$2,700 at $0–$0/hr over 3-6 months; moderate, $1,600–$8,100 at $0–$0/hr over 6-12 months; complex, $4,050–$24,200 at $0–$0/hr over 12-36 months — on 4 shared citations. Those figures place it in the lower quarter of the table.
$4,050 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,450 above the $1,600 floor, $4,050 under the $8,100 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 28.
Sorted by median cost, North Dakota is 24th of 28 for a personal injury, placing it in the lowest-cost quarter of the table: $1,150 and 22% below the $5,200 midpoint, with 4 states recording a lower median still.
Tennessee is the nearest state below at $4,050 — $0 away — while the next state up, Kansas, is a wider $200 step at $4,250. North Dakota therefore sits at the top edge of a band rather than in the middle of one.
Only one other tracked state, Tennessee, records a median within three percent of North Dakota's $4,050 — a pairing rather than a cluster.
| Rank | State | Median | Against North Dakota |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Utah | $4,950 | +$900 |
| 19 | Wyoming | $4,850 | +$800 |
| 20 | Iowa | $4,800 | +$750 |
| 21 | Texas | $4,750 | +$700 |
| 22 | Idaho | $4,400 | +$350 |
| 23 | Kansas | $4,250 | +$200 |
| 24 | North Dakota | $4,050 | — |
| 25 | Tennessee | $4,050 | −$0 |
| 26 | Nebraska | $3,900 | −$150 |
| 27 | Alabama | $3,600 | −$450 |
| 28 | Arkansas | $3,500 | −$550 |
$200 up or $0 down moves North Dakota a row, and only 3 tracked states sit within ten percent of the North Dakota figure: 2 above it and 1 below. The position is comparatively well separated from its neighbours.
Climbing five places would mean passing Wyoming, Iowa, Texas, Idaho, Kansas and adding $800 to the $4,050 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Tennessee, Nebraska, Alabama, Arkansas: $550.
$2,600 short of Hawaii ($6,650), $550 clear of Arkansas ($3,500).
The North Dakota moderate band spans $1,600 to $8,100 — $6,500 — which is $1,825 narrower than the peer-median band of $8,325, so quoted personal injury figures cluster more tightly here than in most tracked states.
Spread across the 6-12 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $4,050 median works out to roughly $450 a month. A complex personal injury runs longer, at 12-36 months, but it also runs hotter — about $504 a month — so the extra cost is not simply the extra calendar time.
| Measure | North Dakota | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $4,050 | 24th |
| Hourly median | — | — |
| Implied hours | — | — |
| Simple median | $1,350 | 21st |
| Complex median | $12,100 | 23rd |
The ranking barely moves across tiers — 21st at the simple tier, 24th at moderate, 23rd at complex of 28 — so North Dakota keeps roughly the same relative position whether the personal injury is straightforward or contested.
$1,350 is 21st of 28 on a straightforward personal injury, under Wyoming ($1,500) and over Idaho ($1,300), $250 under the $1,600 tier midpoint.
$12,100 is 23rd of 28 once contested, between Tennessee ($12,500) and Iowa ($12,000), $3,800 off the $15,900 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in North Dakota: the simple tier reaches $2,700 where the moderate tier starts at $1,600, and the moderate tier reaches $8,100 where the complex tier starts at $4,050. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | North Dakota | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $1,350 | 21st | $1,600 | — |
| moderate | $4,050 | 24th | $5,200 | — |
| complex | $12,100 | 23rd | $15,900 | — |
$1,350 puts North Dakota 21st of 28 on straightforward matters, 3 up on its moderate position, and $250 (16%) under the $1,600 tier midpoint.
Wyoming ($1,500) and Idaho ($1,300) bracket it — a $200 window.
Nothing else sits within three percent of the $1,350 here, against 1 at the moderate tier.
$12,100 puts North Dakota 23rd of 28 on contested matters, 1 up on its moderate position, and $3,800 (24%) under the $15,900 tier midpoint.
Tennessee ($12,500) and Iowa ($12,000) bracket it — a $500 window.
1 states sit within three percent of the $12,100 here, against 1 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Georgia | $1,500 |
| 20 | Wyoming | $1,500 |
| 21 | North Dakota | $1,350 |
| 22 | Idaho | $1,300 |
| 23 | Iowa | $1,250 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Idaho | $12,750 |
| 22 | Tennessee | $12,500 |
| 23 | North Dakota | $12,100 |
| 24 | Iowa | $12,000 |
| 25 | Kansas | $11,650 |
In North Dakota a personal injury is 5th of 8 at $4,050, between Immigration and Bankruptcy. At 47% of Criminal Defense ($8,550).
The state does not rank uniformly. North Dakota is 24th of 28 for Personal Injury but 45th for DUI / DWI, a 21-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 24th on personal injury says little about what the other lines cost.
North Dakota is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, Immigration runs 8% below its own midpoint while Estate Planning / Probate runs 23% below its own midpoint — a 15-point spread between the extremes.
The largest tracked median in North Dakota is 5.3x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
0 of 8 matter types rank North Dakota in the upper third, 5 in the lower, 3 between; personal injury is 24th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 15th percentile of the 28 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,150 | $8,550 | $24,250 | 34 | 39th | −16% | Montana |
| Divorce | $2,600 | $7,200 | $17,750 | 29 | 44th | −16% | Oklahoma |
| DUI / DWI | $2,900 | $5,800 | $15,250 | 25 | 45th | −22% | Alabama |
| Immigration | $1,650 | $4,350 | $8,900 | 19 | 34th | −8% | Florida |
| Personal Injury | $1,350 | $4,050 | $12,100 | — | 24th | −22% | Kansas |
| Bankruptcy | $1,200 | $3,100 | $4,300 | 15 | 35th | −14% | Indiana |
| Real Estate Closing | $750 | $1,950 | $3,850 | 9 | 31st | −12% | Montana |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $550 | $1,600 | $5,200 | 7 | 40th | −23% | Louisiana |
Borrowing the wrong row. Tennessee ($4,050) is $0 light, Kansas ($4,250) is $200 heavy — but the $5,200 table midpoint is out by $1,150, 6x the neighbour error.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the North Dakotacourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.