Best PlacesDivide County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Divide 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.
Divide County ranks 165th 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 Divide 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.
Divide County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Divide County ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Household income$99,287 median, better than 92% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 147 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of counties
Where Divide County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,065 a month, better than only 14% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Divide County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Divide County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,287, 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 Divide County'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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Divide County
Divide 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 Divide County.
Who works in Divide County, and how
Work in Divide 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 86%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Divide County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Divide County.
Is Divide County growing, and who is moving in?
Divide County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Williams County, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Divide County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Divide County, month by month
Divide County sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 4. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21° | 12° | 4° |
| April | 52° | 38° | 27° |
| July | 82° | 68° | 56° |
| October | 54° | 41° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Divide County
The nearest airport, Williston Basin International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 551 miles away.
The best schools in and around Divide County
Schools across Divide County average a C+, better than 46% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ray Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Divide County Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Powers Lake Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Powers Lake High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Ray High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Grenora High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Divide County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Divide 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 Divide County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Divide County
Is Divide County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Divide County ranks 165th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, what local pay buys, and a stable housing market, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Divide County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,631. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $99,287 median income, cost of living beats 96% of counties.
Is Divide County safe?
Yes, Divide County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $363 per resident a year.
Compare Divide County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Divide County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Divide 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.
Divide County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Divide County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Divide County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Divide County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Divide County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Divide 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.