Best PlacesBowman, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bowman, 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.
Bowman ranks 13,055th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bowman
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.
Bowman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bowman ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.0 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
Where Bowman ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Cheap childcare$974 a month, better than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bowman
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bowman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,345, 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 Bowman's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bowman
Bowman'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 Bowman.
Who works in Bowman, and how
Work in Bowman centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Bowman
Bowman has more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Bowman and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bowman, month by month
Bowman sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 18° | 7° |
| April | 58° | 41° | 26° |
| July | 89° | 71° | 54° |
| October | 61° | 44° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Bowman
The nearest airport, Dickinson/Theodore Roosevelt Regional, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 441 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bowman
Schools across Bowman average a B−, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rhame Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Scranton Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Sundance ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Scranton High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Bowman Co High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bowman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bowman 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 Bowman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bowman
Is Bowman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bowman ranks 13,055th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, short commutes, and civic engagement, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bowman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,960. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $65,345 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Bowman safe?
Bowman is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $482 per resident a year.
Compare Bowman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bowman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bowman 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.
Bowman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bowman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bowman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bowman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bowman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bowman 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.