The 10 Best Counties To Live In North Dakota For 2022


Using science and data, we can tell you which counties in North Dakota have the most for people looking to make the move to North Dakota.

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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 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.

After the analytic dust settled, we identified the 10 best counties to live in Peace Garden State for 2022.

Burke County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in North Dakota. And you might want to avoid Sioux 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 cheapest places to live in North Dakota.

The Best Counties To Live In North Dakota For 2022

1. Burke County

Biggest Place: Bowbells

Population: 2,142
Median Income: $79,405.0 (4th best)
Median Home Price: $114,100.0 (29th best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.2% (26th best)
More on Burke County: Data

2. Renville County

Glenburn, ND

Source: Flickr User afiler | CC BY-SA 2.0

Biggest Place: Mohall

Population: 2,387
Median Income: $69,848.0 (13th best)
Median Home Price: $127,900.0 (26th best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.8% (20th best)
More on Renville County: Photos | Data

3. Sargent County

Gwinner, ND

Source: Flickr User orangetruck1 | CC BY-SA 2.0

Biggest Place: Gwinner

Population: 3,899
Median Income: $64,564.0 (24th best)
Median Home Price: $110,900.0 (3best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.4% (12th best)
More on Sargent County: Data

4. Burleigh County

Bismarck, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Bobak Ha’Eri | CC BY 3.0

Biggest Place: Bismarck

Population: 95,509
Median Income: $72,974.0 (7th best)
Median Home Price: $266,800.0 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.5% (28th best)
More on Burleigh County: Photos | Data

5. Mclean County

Garrison, ND

Source: Flickr User afiler | CC BY-SA 2.0

Biggest Place: Garrison

Population: 9,531
Median Income: $70,261.0 (12th best)
Median Home Price: $184,800.0 (12th best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.5% (15th best)
More on Mclean County: Photos | Data

6. Steele County

Biggest Place: Finley

Population: 1,817
Median Income: $77,167.0 (5th best)
Median Home Price: $87,000.0 (47th best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.5% (4th best)
More on Steele County: Data

7. Foster County

Carrington, ND

Source: Flickr User Matt-Zimmerman | CC BY 2.0

Biggest Place: Carrington

Population: 3,231
Median Income: $61,250.0 (28th best)
Median Home Price: $151,200.0 (20th best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.2% (best)
More on Foster County: Photos | Data

8. Traill County

Blanchard, ND

Source: Flickr User afiler | CC BY-SA 2.0

Biggest Place: Mayville

Population: 7,999
Median Income: $67,604.0 (16th best)
Median Home Price: $152,200.0 (19th best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.8% (3best)
More on Traill County: Photos | Data

9. Morton County

Mandan, ND

Source: Wikipedia User afiler | CC BY-SA 2.0

Biggest Place: Mandan

Population: 31,118
Median Income: $72,778.0 (8th best)
Median Home Price: $220,900.0 (7th best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.0% (23rd best)
More on Morton County: Photos | Data

10. Dunn County

Biggest Place: Killdeer

Population: 4,362
Median Income: $82,750.0 (best)
Median Home Price: $213,600.0 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.8% (19th best)
More on Dunn County: Data

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 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
Safest Places In North Dakota

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, quiet, and best counties to raise a family in the Peace Garden State.

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

Summary: 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. Sioux County
  2. Benson County
  3. Rolette County

For more North Dakota reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In North Dakota

County Rank Population Median Income Median Home Price
Burke County 1 2,142 $79,405.0 $114,100.0
Renville County 2 2,387 $69,848.0 $127,900.0
Sargent County 3 3,899 $64,564.0 $110,900.0
Burleigh County 4 95,509 $72,974.0 $266,800.0
Mclean County 5 9,531 $70,261.0 $184,800.0
Steele County 6 1,817 $77,167.0 $87,000.0
Foster County 7 3,231 $61,250.0 $151,200.0
Traill County 8 7,999 $67,604.0 $152,200.0
Morton County 9 31,118 $72,778.0 $220,900.0
Dunn County 10 4,362 $82,750.0 $213,600.0
Billings County 11 886 $64,896.0 $232,400.0
Mercer County 12 8,359 $82,087.0 $181,100.0
Pierce County 13 4,061 $57,398.0 $132,300.0
Golden Valley County 14 1,796 $72,308.0 $113,700.0
Ward County 15 68,962 $68,098.0 $217,700.0
Logan County 16 1,743 $60,592.0 $84,500.0
Bottineau County 17 6,418 $65,074.0 $157,300.0
Dickey County 18 4,857 $64,521.0 $129,600.0
Slope County 19 788 $65,833.0 $91,000.0
Barnes County 20 10,592 $60,472.0 $138,300.0
Stark County 21 31,164 $69,412.0 $240,800.0
Ransom County 22 5,258 $62,235.0 $139,200.0
Griggs County 23 2,314 $53,917.0 $100,900.0
Cass County 24 179,937 $65,976.0 $234,100.0
Bowman County 25 3,091 $70,521.0 $154,300.0
Williams County 26 36,044 $79,508.0 $254,800.0
Wells County 27 3,889 $56,519.0 $89,600.0
Mckenzie County 28 13,836 $75,238.0 $283,400.0
Grand Forks County 29 70,243 $53,721.0 $208,200.0
Richland County 30 16,245 $60,833.0 $132,800.0
Oliver County 31 1,962 $66,641.0 $202,400.0
Mountrail County 32 10,348 $70,412.0 $171,500.0
Mchenry County 33 5,825 $67,039.0 $119,500.0
Nelson County 34 2,864 $53,063.0 $96,100.0
Pembina County 35 6,850 $60,910.0 $92,000.0
Ramsey County 36 11,521 $52,688.0 $154,800.0
Walsh County 37 10,642 $55,428.0 $94,100.0
Divide County 38 2,289 $64,650.0 $124,900.0
Cavalier County 39 3,769 $54,955.0 $108,600.0
Kidder County 40 2,468 $52,063.0 $101,600.0
Lamoure County 41 4,225 $61,477.0 $99,900.0
Stutsman County 42 20,879 $52,815.0 $158,900.0
Mcintosh County 43 2,535 $51,136.0 $75,700.0
Sheridan County 44 1,289 $54,250.0 $95,800.0
Adams County 45 2,271 $48,750.0 $95,600.0
Emmons County 46 3,262 $51,012.0 $94,500.0
Grant County 47 2,318 $53,750.0 $75,600.0
Eddy County 48 2,262 $52,895.0 $92,300.0
Towner County 49 2,191 $49,464.0 $93,500.0
Hettinger County 50 2,510 $59,750.0 $109,500.0
Rolette County 51 14,437 $46,481.0 $85,600.0
Benson County 52 6,860 $50,329.0 $79,800.0
Sioux County 53 4,339 $41,893.0 $83,300.0
Download The Entire North Dakota Ranking Data
Editor’s Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our ninth time ranking the best counties to live in North Dakota.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

 Best Counties, Rankings