Best PlacesCavalier County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cavalier 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.
Cavalier County ranks 632nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cavalier 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.
Cavalier County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cavalier County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 140 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of counties
Where Cavalier County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of counties
- Cheap childcare$919 a month, better than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cavalier County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cavalier County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,449, 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 Cavalier County's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 Cavalier County
Cavalier 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 Cavalier County.
Who works in Cavalier County, and how
Work in Cavalier County centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cavalier County
Cavalier County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cavalier County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cavalier County growing, and who is moving in?
Cavalier County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fallon County, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cavalier County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cavalier County, month by month
Cavalier County sees roughly 140 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 18, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18° | 10° | 2° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 53° | 43° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Cavalier County
The nearest airport, Devils Lake Regional, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 363 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cavalier County
Schools across Cavalier County average a B, better than 72% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Edmore Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Kittson Central ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Valley-edinburg Elementary School-crystalA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Munich High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Starkweather High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Kittson Central SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cavalier County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cavalier 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 Cavalier County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Cavalier County
Is Cavalier County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cavalier County ranks 632nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, clean air, and civic engagement, and lowest on distance from a big city and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cavalier County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,496. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $72,449 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Cavalier County safe?
Cavalier County is safer than 47% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $437 per resident a year.
Compare Cavalier County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cavalier County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cavalier 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.
Cavalier County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cavalier County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cavalier County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cavalier County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cavalier County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cavalier 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.