Best PlacesBillings County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Billings 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.
Billings County ranks 1,250th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Billings 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.
Billings County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Billings County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 166 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 88% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of counties
Where Billings County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 3% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Billings County
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Billings County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,806, 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 Billings County'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 and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Billings County
Billings County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Billings County.
Who works in Billings County, and how
Work in Billings County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Billings County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Billings County.
Is Billings County growing, and who is moving in?
Billings County has grown about 16% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Colorado Springs, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Billings County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Billings County, month by month
Billings County sees roughly 166 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 19° | 11° |
| April | 55° | 41° | 31° |
| July | 86° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 58° | 44° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Billings County
The nearest airport, Dickinson/Theodore Roosevelt Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 498 miles away.
The best schools in and around Billings County
Schools across Billings County average an A−, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Little Powder ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Demores Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Prairie Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Sheridan High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Tongue River High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Rocky Mountain High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Billings County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Billings 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 Billings County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Billings County
Is Billings County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Billings County ranks 1,250th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, health care access, and good schools, and lowest on crime and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Billings County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $331,000. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $86,806 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Billings County safe?
Billings County is safer than 3% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $910 per resident a year.
Compare Billings County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Billings County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Billings 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.
Billings County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Billings County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Billings County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Billings County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Billings County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Billings 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.