Best PlacesFargo, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fargo, 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.
Fargo ranks 33,179th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fargo
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.
Fargo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fargo ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of towns
- BikingBetter than 78% of towns
Where Fargo ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,196 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fargo
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fargo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,336, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Fargo'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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fargo
Fargo runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fargo.
Who works in Fargo, and how
Work in Fargo centers on admin & support services and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Fargo
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fargo.
What the weather is like in Fargo, month by month
Fargo sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 70° | 55° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Fargo
Portland International sits about 25 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Fargo
Schools across Fargo average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cecile Trost Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Baker Prairie Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- North Marion Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Canby High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- North Marion High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fargo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fargo 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 Fargo against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fargo
Is Fargo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fargo ranks 33,179th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, state infrastructure, and clean air, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fargo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $448,661. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $71,336 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Fargo safe?
Yes, Fargo is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $347 per resident a year.
Compare Fargo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fargo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fargo 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.
Fargo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fargo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fargo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fargo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fargo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fargo 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.