Best PlacesGolden Valley, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Golden Valley, 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.
Golden Valley ranks 19,440th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Distance from a big city pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on what local pay buys.
The best neighborhoods in Golden Valley
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.
Golden Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Golden Valley ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$98,036 median, better than 83% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
Where Golden Valley ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cheap childcare$992 a month, better than only 25% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Golden Valley
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Golden Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,036, 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 Golden Valley's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Golden Valley
Golden Valley 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 Golden Valley.
Who works in Golden Valley, and how
Work in Golden Valley centers on retail trade and utilities. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Golden Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Golden Valley.
What the weather is like in Golden Valley, month by month
Golden Valley sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 15° | 6° |
| April | 54° | 40° | 28° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 57° |
| October | 56° | 43° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Golden Valley
The nearest airport, Dickinson/Theodore Roosevelt Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 455 miles away.
The best schools in and around Golden Valley
Schools across Golden Valley average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Beulah Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Twin Buttes Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beulah Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Hebron High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Beulah High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Golden Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Golden Valley 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 Golden Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Golden Valley
Is Golden Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Golden Valley ranks 19,440th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, low taxes, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Golden Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,200. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $98,036 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Golden Valley safe?
Golden Valley is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $598 per resident a year.
Compare Golden Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Golden Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Golden Valley 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.
Golden Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Golden Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Golden Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Golden Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Golden Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Golden Valley 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.