Municipal Department
City of Bismarck Utility Billing
Serving Bismarck
Population served
Approximately 72,417 residents in the queue service-area estimate; the City reports more than 23,000 utility billing customers across water, wastewater, stormwater, lighting, recycling and solid-waste services.
State system code
FIPS 38
Billing frequency
Monthly. Bills are produced on a cycle basis on or around the 10th, 20th and 30th of each month and are due 15 days after the cycle billing date.
Provider briefing
How this utility’s billing works
City of Bismarck Utility Billing operates as a municipal department serving Bismarck. Customers should use the provider’s current account-specific bill and official customer-service instructions as the final authority for deadlines, balances, and service requests.
The published water-rate framework is described as Increasing block consumption pricing layered on fixed monthly charges and additional municipal service charges. The 2026 single-family schedule bills water by 100-cubic-foot units, with 1 unit equal to 748 gallons; for larger residential lots the published water tiers are $1.80 per unit for units 1-8, $4.93 for 9-16, $6.34 for 17-24 and $8.10 for 25 and above, with the applicable meter and lot table controlling the exact bill.. Bills are generated monthly. bills are produced on a cycle basis on or around the 10th, 20th and 30th of each month and are due 15 days after the cycle billing date., and a typical residential cost reference is The 2026 single-family schedule lists a 5/8-inch water minimum of $10.41, sewer minimum of $11.54, a $0.30 backup charge and stormwater of $1.54 for lots under 8,000 square feet, with water and sewer consumption added by unit. A typical 5,000-7,000 gallon monthly household should generally budget approximately $70-$100 for the City utility bundle before optional or non-water municipal services; the exact amount depends on lot size, meter class, sewer usage and solid-waste/street-light charges.. These descriptions are useful planning benchmarks; actual charges can change with meter size, usage, sewer averaging, local taxes, drought stages, or account-specific fees.
Wastewater and sewer calculation
Wastewater is metered and billed using water-consumption units rather than a separate residential sewer meter. The 2026 schedule lists sewer at $3.16 per 100-cubic-foot unit for the cited residential table; one unit is 748 gallons. There is no published winter-average formula on the reviewed City billing page, so the record should not imply one.
Meter and infrastructure notes
Bismarck uses digital water-meter registers that alternate between cumulative reading and flow rate every six seconds and support customer leak checks. The City offers Water Analytics showing usage by year, month, day and hour with text/email alerts, indicating interval-capable remote data, but the reviewed public page does not state a precise transmission interval or meter-reader route schedule.
Emergency water support
Report a leak or water emergency
701-355-1700, option 4 during Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; after hours use option 0 for water emergencies. The City directs customers to report water breaks, leaks and related system emergencies through this Utility Operations contact path.
Official starting point
Choose the right next step
Reading this profile
A practical reference for Bismarck
City of Bismarck Utility Billing is listed here as a municipal department. The profile separates account actions—such as paying a bill or requesting service—from explanatory material about rates, meters, wastewater, leaks, and delinquency.
Because utility rules can vary by account class, meter size, service address, billing date, and local ordinance, treat the published bill and current provider website as the final authority. Use this profile to locate the correct channel and prepare better questions for customer service.
If your issue is urgent, start with the provider’s emergency number or official payment route rather than waiting for an email response. Keep a written record of calls, confirmation numbers, notice dates, and documents you submit.