Best PlacesFoster County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Foster County, 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.
Foster County ranks 216th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Foster 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.
Foster County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Foster County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of counties
- Short commute12.9 minutes each way, better than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of counties
Where Foster County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- Cheap childcare$928 a month, better than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Foster County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Foster County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,011, 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 Foster County's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Foster County
Foster 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 Foster County.
Who works in Foster County, and how
Work in Foster County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Foster County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Foster County.
Is Foster County growing, and who is moving in?
Foster County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Eddy County, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Foster County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Foster County, month by month
Foster County sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21° | 13° | 6° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 30° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 55° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Foster County
The nearest airport, Jamestown Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 330 miles away.
The best schools in and around Foster County
Schools across Foster County average a B−, better than 58% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Kensal Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- New Rockford-sheyenne Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Carrington Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Carrington High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- New Rockford-sheyenne High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- East Grand Forks Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Foster County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Foster 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 Foster County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Foster County
Is Foster County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Foster County ranks 216th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on distance from a big city and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Foster County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,886. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $91,011 median income, cost of living beats 95% of counties.
Is Foster County safe?
Yes, Foster County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
Compare Foster County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Foster County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Foster 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.
Foster County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Foster County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Foster County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Foster County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Foster County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Foster 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.