Best PlacesGolva, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Golva, 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.
Golva ranks 18,768th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Golva
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.
Golva's strengths and weaknesses
Where Golva ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 137 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Short commute20.0 minutes each way, better than 88% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
Where Golva ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 25% of towns
- Cheap childcare$959 a month, better than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Golva
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Golva home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,862, 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 Golva's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Golva
Golva 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 Golva.
Who works in Golva, and how
Work in Golva centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Golva
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Golva.
What the weather is like in Golva, month by month
Golva sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 19° | 11° |
| April | 55° | 40° | 29° |
| July | 86° | 70° | 56° |
| October | 57° | 43° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Golva
The nearest airport, Dickinson/Theodore Roosevelt Regional, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 474 miles away.
The best schools in and around Golva
Schools across Golva average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Little Powder ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Marmarth Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Rhame Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Sheridan High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Beach High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Bowman Co High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Golva school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Golva 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 Golva against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Golva
Is Golva a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Golva ranks 18,768th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, the weather, and short commutes, 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 Golva expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $125,968. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $61,862 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Golva safe?
Yes, Golva is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $336 per resident a year.
Compare Golva with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Golva. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Golva 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.
Golva detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Golva: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Golva: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Golva: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Golva: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Golva 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.