Best Places58838, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 58838, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
58838 ranks 10,591st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Biking pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on quiet.
The best neighborhoods in 58838
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.
58838's strengths and weaknesses
Where 58838 ranks high
- QuietBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Household income$107,165 median, better than 84% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 58838 ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 58838
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 58838 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $107,165, 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 58838's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 58838
58838's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 58838.
Who works in 58838, and how
Work in 58838 centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 58838
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 58838.
What the weather is like in 58838, month by month
58838 sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 17° | 8° |
| April | 58° | 42° | 29° |
| July | 89° | 73° | 57° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 31° |
Flying in and out of 58838
The nearest airport, Sidney-Richland Regional, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 548 miles away.
The best schools in and around 58838
Schools across 58838 average a C, better than 34% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Horse Creek SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- East Fairview Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Alexander Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Alexander High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Watford City High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 58838 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
58838 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 58838 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 58838
Is 58838 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 58838 ranks 10,591st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on quiet, low taxes, and high incomes, and lowest on biking and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 58838 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,079. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $107,165 median income, cost of living beats 79% of zip codes.
Is 58838 safe?
58838 is safer than 26% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $527 per resident a year.
Compare 58838 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 58838. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 58838 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.
58838 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 58838: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 58838: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 58838: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 58838: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
58838 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.