The 10 Best Small Towns In North Dakota For 2025


The best small towns in North Dakota are Thompson and Horace for 2025 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: October 1, 2025

You’ve seen these lists before. Best places to live in North Dakota. Best sururbs in North Dakota. Best counties in North Dakota.

Etc., etc., etc.

But they all focus on major cities and towns in the Peace Garden State, and no one pays attention to the little guy.

Well, that’s all about to change as we put together a list of the superb small towns in North Dakota based on numbers–not opinions or hearsay.

We’ll dive right into our methodology in the next section, but first, we thought you might want to know which places in North Dakota ranked the best based on Saturday Night Science.

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The 15 Best Small Towns To Live In North Dakota For 2025

  1. Thompson
  2. Horace
  3. Hillsboro
  4. Mapleton
  5. Lincoln
  6. Bottineau
  7. Surrey
  8. Beulah
  9. Langdon
  10. Carrington
  11. Casselton
  12. Washburn
  13. Bowman
  14. Larimore
  15. Rugby

Best Small Towns To Live In North Dakota Map

What’s the best small town in North Dakota? Thompson is the best small town in North Dakota based on the most recent Census data. If you live in one of these small towns like Thompson, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you–keep reading, and we’ll get to just why these small towns made our list.

For more reading on the Peace Garden State check out:

The 15 Best Small Towns In North Dakota For 2025

1. Thompson

Thompson, ND

Source: Flickr User afiler | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,092
Median Income: $110,909 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $274,000 (5th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.2%

2. Horace

Horace, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,964
Median Income: $145,801 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $444,600 (1st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.6%

3. Hillsboro

Hillsboro, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,643
Median Income: $77,844 (11th Best)
Median Home Value: $180,800 (18th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.1%

4. Mapleton

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,243
Median Income: $116,364 (2nd Best)
Median Home Value: $285,500 (4th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.6%

5. Lincoln

Lincoln, ND

Source: Wikipedia User afiler | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 4,309
Median Income: $83,387 (8th Best)
Median Home Value: $259,400 (6th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.8%

6. Bottineau

Bottineau, ND

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

6
/10

Population: 2,063
Median Income: $70,882 (15th Best)
Median Home Value: $165,300 (20th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.6%

7. Surrey

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 1,672
Median Income: $105,125 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $302,200 (2nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%

8. Beulah

Beulah, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 3,058
Median Income: $84,417 (7th Best)
Median Home Value: $194,300 (13th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.7%

9. Langdon

Langdon, ND

Source: Wikipedia User FlickreviewR | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,835
Median Income: $63,664 (24th Best)
Median Home Value: $130,400 (27th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.3%

10. Carrington

Carrington, ND

Source: Flickr User Matt-Zimmerman | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 2,171
Median Income: $65,469 (19th Best)
Median Home Value: $141,800 (26th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.1%

11. Casselton

Casselton, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Magicpiano | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,640
Median Income: $68,472 (18th Best)
Median Home Value: $297,500 (3rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.2%

12. Washburn

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,434
Median Income: $75,729 (13th Best)
Median Home Value: $226,200 (9th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.4%

13. Bowman

Bowman, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Ecemaml | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 1,523
Median Income: $70,859 (16th Best)
Median Home Value: $181,300 (17th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%

14. Larimore

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,262
Median Income: $78,846 (10th Best)
Median Home Value: $180,200 (19th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.8%

15. Rugby

Rugby, ND

Source: Wikipedia User I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 2,555
Median Income: $50,580 (32nd Best)
Median Home Value: $147,800 (25th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.8%

Best States In America

Methodology: How We Determined The Coolest Towns In North Dakota

We threw a lot of criteria at this report to get the best, most complete results of the best small towns in North Dakota possible.

Using the most recent data from the Census’s 2019-2023 American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Saturday Night Science, this is the criteria we used:

  • Population Density (Higher is better)
  • Lowest Unemployment Rates
  • Housing costs (Higher is better. More demand.)
  • Adjusted Median Income (Higher is better)
  • Highly Educated Adults (Higher is better)
  • Insurance Rates (Higher is better)
  • Commute Times (Lower is better)

We looked at places with populations lower than 5,000 people and greater than 1,000, of which there were many – 36 to be exact.

We then ranked each place in each category with scores from 1 to 36, averaged them out, and the lowest scores went to our Best Small Towns in North Dakota. Top of that list — Thompson.

This is our tenth time ranking the best small places to live in North Dakota.

Summary: Science Can Tackle Any Issue, Even Small Ones

We said it once, and we’ll say it again — this list: it’s just science. We did the research, crunched the numbers, and it turns out these 15 small towns in North Dakota are the best in which to live.

And who can argue with that?

The best small towns in North Dakota are Thompson, Horace, Hillsboro, Mapleton, Lincoln, Bottineau, Surrey, Beulah, Langdon, and Carrington.

If you’re curious, here are the worst small towns in North Dakota:

  1. Shell Valley
  2. Belcourt
  3. Rolla

For more North Dakota reading, check out:

Best Small Towns In North Dakota

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Value Unemployment Rate
1 Thompson, ND 1,092 $110,909 0.2%
2 Horace, ND 3,964 $145,801 0.6%
3 Hillsboro, ND 1,643 $77,844 3.1%
4 Mapleton, ND 1,243 $116,364 1.6%
5 Lincoln, ND 4,309 $83,387 1.8%
6 Bottineau, ND 2,063 $70,882 1.6%
7 Surrey, ND 1,672 $105,125 3.2%
8 Beulah, ND 3,058 $84,417 0.7%
9 Langdon, ND 1,835 $63,664 0.3%
10 Carrington, ND 2,171 $65,469 0.1%
11 Casselton, ND 2,640 $68,472 1.2%
12 Washburn, ND 1,434 $75,729 0.4%
13 Bowman, ND 1,523 $70,859 3.3%
14 Larimore, ND 1,262 $78,846 1.8%
15 Rugby, ND 2,555 $50,580 0.8%
16 Hazen, ND 2,509 $72,094 2.9%
17 Burlington, ND 1,169 $95,216 4.9%
18 Cando, ND 1,199 $49,375 1.9%
19 Garrison, ND 1,456 $68,646 1.4%
20 Cavalier, ND 1,304 $57,188 9.7%
21 Kenmare, ND 1,027 $64,167 1.9%
22 Stanley, ND 2,089 $105,893 3.9%
23 Crosby, ND 1,116 $80,000 3.8%
24 Harvey, ND 1,720 $42,368 1.8%
25 Park River, ND 1,483 $76,080 1.5%
26 New Rockford, ND 1,325 $47,969 3.0%
27 Lisbon, ND 2,262 $61,953 3.6%
28 New Town, ND 2,725 $50,707 2.9%
29 Oakes, ND 2,046 $64,750 3.2%
30 Mayville, ND 2,050 $64,044 3.3%
31 Grafton, ND 4,128 $60,184 2.7%
32 Hettinger, ND 1,141 $50,750 3.8%
33 Tioga, ND 1,525 $62,315 4.0%
34 Rolla, ND 1,164 $52,841 7.3%
35 Belcourt, ND 1,739 $64,526 3.7%
36 Shell Valley, ND 1,112 $43,281 11.9%
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 Small Towns, Rankings