Best PlacesBenson County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Benson County, 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.
Benson County ranks 1,417th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Benson 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.
Benson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Benson County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of counties
- Short commute16.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of counties
Where Benson County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Benson County
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Benson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,331, 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 Benson County's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Benson County
Benson County 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 Benson County.
Who works in Benson County, and how
Work in Benson County centers on education and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Benson County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Benson County.
Is Benson County growing, and who is moving in?
Benson County has lost about 16% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Ramsey County, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Benson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Benson County, month by month
Benson County sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 0. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 10° | 0° |
| April | 50° | 37° | 26° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 58° |
| October | 55° | 43° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Benson County
The nearest airport, Devils Lake Regional, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 356 miles away.
The best schools in and around Benson County
Schools across Benson County average a C, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Dakota Prairie Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Sweetwater Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Rugby Ely Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Central Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Warwick Middle SchoolF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- North Star High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Leeds High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- New Rockford-sheyenne High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Benson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Benson 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 Benson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Benson County
Is Benson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Benson County ranks 1,417th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, a stable housing market, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Benson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $89,707. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $67,331 median income, cost of living beats 47% of counties.
Is Benson County safe?
Benson County is safer than 11% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $706 per resident a year.
Compare Benson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Benson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Benson 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.
Benson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Benson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Benson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Benson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Benson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Benson 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.