Best Places58538, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 58538, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
58538 ranks 31,311th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 58538
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
58538's strengths and weaknesses
Where 58538 ranks high
- Short commute11.7 minutes each way, better than 99% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 58538 ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 58538
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 58538 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $37,197, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 58538's effective rate of 0.21%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 58538
58538 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 58538.
Who works in 58538, and how
Work in 58538 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in 58538
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 58538.
What the weather is like in 58538, month by month
58538 sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 14° | 5° |
| April | 54° | 40° | 29° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 60° | 46° | 34° |
Flying in and out of 58538
The nearest airport, Bismarck Municipal, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 370 miles away.
The best schools in and around 58538
Schools across 58538 average a D+, better than 9% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Browns Valley ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Selfridge Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Cannon Ball Elementary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fort Yates Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Moorhead High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Selfridge High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
- Solen High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 58538 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
58538 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 58538 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 58538
Is 58538 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 58538 ranks 31,311th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, low property taxes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on thin health care access and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 58538 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $102,037. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $37,197 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 58538 safe?
58538 is safer than 3% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,177 per resident a year.
Compare 58538 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 58538. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 58538 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
58538 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 58538: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 58538: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 58538: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 58538: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
58538 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.