Best PlacesForest River Colony, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Forest River Colony, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Forest River Colony ranks 18,381st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Forest River Colony
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.
Forest River Colony's strengths and weaknesses
Where Forest River Colony ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
Where Forest River Colony ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Forest River Colony
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forest River Colony home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,656, 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 Forest River Colony's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Forest River Colony
Forest River Colony'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 Forest River Colony.
Who works in Forest River Colony, and how
Work in Forest River Colony centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Forest River Colony
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Forest River Colony.
What the weather is like in Forest River Colony, month by month
Forest River Colony sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 19, with lows near 3. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19° | 11° | 3° |
| April | 51° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 56° | 44° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Forest River Colony
The nearest airport, Grand Forks International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 312 miles away.
The best schools in and around Forest River Colony
Schools across Forest River Colony average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Midway Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Fordville-lankin Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Midway High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forest River Colony school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forest River Colony 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 Forest River Colony against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Forest River Colony
Is Forest River Colony a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forest River Colony ranks 18,381st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low taxes, and heat safety, and lowest on disaster risk and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Forest River Colony expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $154,312. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $89,656 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is Forest River Colony safe?
Yes, Forest River Colony is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
Compare Forest River Colony with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forest River Colony. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forest River Colony 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.
Forest River Colony detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forest River Colony: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forest River Colony: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forest River Colony: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forest River Colony: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forest River Colony 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.