These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In North Dakota For 2018

Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment: is North Dakota a good place?

The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best places to live in North Dakota.

Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Peace Garden State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been helping people find the best places to live in America for years.

So, the question becomes, if you wanted to relocate to the best pat of North Dakota, where would you go? To answer that we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 30 counties in the state.

After the analytic dust settled, we identified the 10 best counties to live in Peace Garden State for 2018:

1. Renville County
2. Logan County
3. McIntosh County
4. Kidder County
5. Traill County
6. Burleigh County (Photos)
7. Pembina County (Photos)
8. Billings County
9. Ward County (Photos)
10. Williams County (Photos)

Renville County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in North Dakota. And you might want to avoid Rolette County if you can — at least according to the data.

So if you’re thinking of making the move North Dakota, we’ve got you covered. Keep on reading for a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in North Dakota and the best places to raise a family in North Dakota.

How do you determine which North Dakota county is the best?

To give you the best county in North Dakota, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we need to make some assumptions about what’s a ‘best county’ and what isn’t. And, for reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, don’t take this analysis to court.

With that in mind, we went to two of the best sources of data on the internet; the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent time period.

We paid particular attention to:

• Violent Crime Rates
• Property Crime Rates
• Median Home Values
• Median Income
• Unemployment Rates
• Adult Education Levels
• Health Insurance Coverage
• Poverty Rates

We then ranked each county in North Dakota across each of the criteria from one to 30, with one being the best.

Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the ‘Best County To Live In North Dakota’.

The result is some of the safest, quiet, and best counties to raise a family in the Peace Garden State.

Read on to see why Renville County is the best county, while Rolette County is probably in contention for being the worst county in North Dakota.

1. Renville County

Biggest Place: Mohall
Population: 2,573
Median Income: $65,927 (9th best)
Median Home Price: $120,400 (21st best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.9% (1st best)
More on Renville County: Data

2. Logan County

Biggest Place: Napoleon
Population: 1,939
Median Income: $55,068 (21st best)
Median Home Price: $72,300 (5th best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.8% (7th best)
More on Logan County: Data

3. Mcintosh County

Biggest Place: Wishek
Population: 2,737
Median Income: $43,650 (28th best)
Median Home Price: $67,900 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.1% (2nd best)
More on Mcintosh County: Data

4. Kidder County

Biggest Place: Steele
Population: 2,419
Median Income: $58,527 (14th best)
Median Home Price: $100,100 (30th best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.6% (5th best)
More on Kidder County: Data

5. Traill County

Biggest Place: Mayville
Population: 8,075
Median Income: $55,764 (19th best)
Median Home Price: $115,300 (23rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.6% (18th best)
More on Traill County: Data

6. Burleigh County

Biggest Place: Bismarck
Population: 90,560
Median Income: $66,057 (8th best)
Median Home Price: $220,800 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.2% (11th best)
More on Burleigh County: Photos | Data

7. Pembina County

Biggest Place: Cavalier
Population: 7,136
Median Income: $56,813 (17th best)
Median Home Price: $80,200 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.1% (23rd best)
More on Pembina County: Photos | Data

8. Billings County

Biggest Place: Medora
Population: 936
Median Income: $67,969 (6th best)
Median Home Price: $167,200 (15th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.0% (22nd best)
More on Billings County: Data

9. Ward County

Biggest Place: Minot
Population: 68,954
Median Income: $63,037 (12th best)
Median Home Price: $207,600 (10th best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.4% (15th best)
More on Ward County: Photos | Data

10. Williams County

Biggest Place: Williston
Population: 31,643
Median Income: $90,080 (1st best)
Median Home Price: $224,000 (7th best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.0% (9th best)
More on Williams County: Photos | Data

There You Have It – The Best Counties In North Dakota To Call Home For 2018

It turns out living in North Dakota can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?

But now you the know the really good parts and the parts to avoid and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day. And for that, you are welcome.

Here’s a look at the worst counties in North Dakota according to the data:

1. Rolette County
2. Pierce County
3. Stutsman County

For more North Dakota reading, check out:

• 10 Cheapest Places To Live In North Dakota
• 10 Safest Places In North Dakota
• These Are The 10 Fastest Growing Cities In North Dakota
• 10 Best Cities For Singles In North Dakota

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In North Dakota

County	Rank	Population	Median Income	Median Home Price
Renville County	1	2,573	$65,927	$120,400
Logan County	2	1,939	$55,068	$72,300
Mcintosh County	3	2,737	$43,650	$67,900
Kidder County	4	2,419	$58,527	$100,100
Traill County	5	8,075	$55,764	$115,300
Burleigh County	6	90,560	$66,057	$220,800
Pembina County	7	7,136	$56,813	$80,200
Billings County	8	936	$67,969	$167,200
Ward County	9	68,954	$63,037	$207,600
Williams County	10	31,643	$90,080	$224,000
Foster County	11	3,345	$55,625	$110,400
Stark County	12	29,837	$76,817	$222,200
Morton County	13	29,633	$63,549	$173,400
Ransom County	14	5,457	$57,088	$113,600
Wells County	15	4,179	$50,685	$74,900
Bowman County	16	3,238	$62,955	$145,700
Mercer County	17	8,671	$73,801	$152,200
Burke County	18	2,239	$65,521	$116,400
Dickey County	19	5,160	$55,882	$105,500
Richland County	20	16,329	$58,125	$109,000
Mountrail County	21	9,675	$68,082	$161,400
Mckenzie County	22	10,718	$78,179	$202,800
Walsh County	23	10,995	$51,181	$81,300
Cass County	24	166,852	$54,926	$183,800
Ramsey County	25	11,578	$50,776	$112,100
Dunn County	26	4,284	$66,964	$162,700
Grand Forks County	27	69,793	$50,652	$168,900
Stutsman County	28	21,108	$53,685	$120,500
Pierce County	29	4,373	$43,086	$102,900
Rolette County	30	14,607	$37,313	$73,900