Best PlacesBarnes County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Barnes County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Barnes County ranks 587th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Barnes County
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.
Barnes County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barnes County ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 147 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- BikingBetter than 82% of counties
Where Barnes County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 17% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of counties
- Cheap childcare$925 a month, better than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Barnes County
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barnes County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,358, 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 Barnes County's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Barnes County
Barnes County runs older than the country, 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 Barnes County.
Who works in Barnes County, and how
Work in Barnes County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Barnes County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Barnes County.
Is Barnes County growing, and who is moving in?
Barnes County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fargo, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Barnes County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Barnes County, month by month
Barnes County sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 12° | 5° |
| April | 50° | 39° | 30° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 54° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Barnes County
The nearest airport, Jamestown Regional, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 271 miles away.
The best schools in and around Barnes County
Schools across Barnes County average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Barnes County North Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Climax ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Valley City Junior High SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Washington Elementary SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Horizon Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Griggs County Central High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Litchville-marion High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Moorhead High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barnes County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barnes County 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 Barnes County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Barnes County
Is Barnes County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barnes County ranks 587th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, the weather, and health care access, and lowest on tree cover and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barnes County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,740. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $72,358 median income, cost of living beats 68% of counties.
Is Barnes County safe?
Yes, Barnes County is safer than 56% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $420 per resident a year.
Compare Barnes County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barnes County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barnes County 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.
Barnes County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barnes County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barnes County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barnes County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barnes County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barnes County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.