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 counties 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 using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of North Dakota, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 53 counties in the state.
Oliver County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in North Dakota. And you should avoid Sioux County if you can — at least according to the data.
$77,240 median income · 1.0% unemployment
$86,851 median income · 2.3% unemployment
$87,004 median income · 2.2% unemployment
$79,382 median income · 1.5% unemployment
$83,583 median income · 1.4% unemployment
$87,831 median income · 1.0% unemployment
$86,806 median income · 2.1% unemployment
$77,946 median income · 0.8% unemployment
$74,301 median income · 1.0% unemployment
$91,591 median income · 3.7% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is North Dakota’s statewide median.
North Dakota statewide median: $76,657
North Dakota statewide median: $284,076
North Dakota statewide median: 2.8%
On the map
Where North Dakota’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: 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 made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent 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 53, 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, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Peace Garden State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in North Dakota.
Read on to see why Oliver County is the best county, while Sioux County is probably in contention for being the worst county in North Dakota.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In North Dakota
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oliver County | 1,839 | $77,240 | $251,891 |
| 2 | Burleigh County | 100,600 | $86,851 | $362,350 |
| 3 | Traill County | 7,970 | $87,004 | $211,640 |
| 4 | Morton County | 33,777 | $79,382 | $318,880 |
| 5 | McLean County | 9,823 | $83,583 | $212,100 |
| 6 | Foster County | 3,358 | $87,831 | $184,311 |
| 7 | Billings County | 1,024 | $86,806 | $376,267 |
| 8 | Sargent County | 3,804 | $77,946 | $175,719 |
| 9 | Renville County | 2,304 | $74,301 | $186,736 |
| 10 | Burke County | 2,156 | $91,591 | $140,162 |
| 11 | Nelson County | 3,016 | $67,193 | $151,639 |
| 12 | Slope County | 766 | $71,250 | $193,249 |
| 13 | Cavalier County | 3,633 | $69,531 | $163,327 |
| 14 | Dunn County | 4,040 | $97,689 | $384,084 |
| 15 | Bottineau County | 6,378 | $85,000 | $210,385 |
| 16 | Richland County | 16,584 | $75,432 | $222,822 |
| 17 | Grand Forks County | 72,923 | $68,075 | $284,894 |
| 18 | Cass County | 193,400 | $75,555 | $328,967 |
| 19 | Ward County | 68,973 | $78,238 | $277,618 |
| 20 | Ransom County | 5,643 | $75,736 | $193,954 |
| 21 | Kidder County | 2,377 | $65,610 | $213,803 |
| 22 | Divide County | 2,167 | $91,852 | $190,521 |
| 23 | McKenzie County | 14,321 | $93,404 | $367,243 |
| 24 | Stark County | 33,302 | $84,449 | $310,355 |
| 25 | Williams County | 39,555 | $85,595 | $343,436 |
| 26 | Towner County | 2,079 | $67,350 | $131,821 |
| 27 | Golden Valley County | 1,653 | $68,021 | $184,552 |
| 28 | LaMoure County | 4,118 | $80,664 | $133,228 |
| 29 | Mercer County | 8,337 | $80,946 | $231,337 |
| 30 | Wells County | 3,890 | $66,114 | $132,761 |
| 31 | Barnes County | 10,773 | $68,038 | $193,628 |
| 32 | Steele County | 1,804 | $77,500 | $148,574 |
| 33 | Mountrail County | 9,507 | $80,717 | $236,830 |
| 34 | Pierce County | 3,928 | $59,365 | $167,444 |
| 35 | Hettinger County | 2,432 | $73,026 | $135,967 |
| 36 | Griggs County | 2,245 | $61,711 | $128,850 |
| 37 | Logan County | 1,819 | $62,750 | $115,949 |
| 37 | Sheridan County | 1,303 | $62,639 | $128,478 |
| 39 | Emmons County | 3,254 | $66,538 | $145,400 |
| 40 | Stutsman County | 21,549 | $61,856 | $224,540 |
| 41 | Ramsey County | 11,556 | $61,006 | $222,690 |
| 42 | Walsh County | 10,396 | $71,944 | $157,408 |
| 43 | Pembina County | 6,727 | $68,393 | $132,947 |
| 44 | McHenry County | 5,207 | $80,733 | $153,384 |
| 45 | Bowman County | 2,906 | $72,109 | $183,492 |
| 46 | Adams County | 2,145 | $62,500 | $136,450 |
| 47 | Eddy County | 2,307 | $50,850 | $116,782 |
| 48 | Dickey County | 4,935 | $68,654 | $168,745 |
| 49 | McIntosh County | 2,497 | $64,419 | $95,715 |
| 50 | Grant County | 2,269 | $57,875 | $105,946 |
| 51 | Benson County | 5,808 | $64,033 | $147,236 |
| 52 | Rolette County | 11,924 | $59,517 | $117,995 |
| 53 | Sioux County | 3,740 | $42,083 | $97,079 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 53 North Dakota counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In North Dakota To Call Home For 2026
Living in North Dakota can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in North Dakota are Oliver County, Burleigh County, Traill County, Morton County, McLean County, Foster County, Billings County, Sargent County, Renville County, and Burke County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
