Best PlacesGrand Forks Air Force Base, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grand Forks Air Force Base, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Grand Forks Air Force Base ranks 3,413th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Grand Forks Air Force Base
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.
Grand Forks Air Force Base's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grand Forks Air Force Base ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of towns
- Household income$114,392 median, better than 91% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Grand Forks Air Force Base ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grand Forks Air Force Base
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grand Forks Air Force Base home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $114,392, 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base
Grand Forks Air Force Base's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Grand Forks Air Force Base.
Who works in Grand Forks Air Force Base, and how
Work in Grand Forks Air Force Base centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Grand Forks Air Force Base
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Grand Forks Air Force Base.
What the weather is like in Grand Forks Air Force Base, month by month
Grand Forks Air Force Base sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 19, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19° | 10° | 2° |
| April | 51° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 56° | 45° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Grand Forks Air Force Base
The nearest airport, Grand Forks International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 277 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grand Forks Air Force Base
Schools across Grand Forks Air Force Base average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Discovery Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Thompson Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nathan Twining Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Thompson High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Community Alternative High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grand Forks Air Force Base school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grand Forks Air Force Base 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grand Forks Air Force Base
Is Grand Forks Air Force Base a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grand Forks Air Force Base ranks 3,413th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, population health, and what local pay buys, and lowest on air quality and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grand Forks Air Force Base expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $306,050. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $114,392 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Grand Forks Air Force Base safe?
Yes, Grand Forks Air Force Base is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $252 per resident a year.
Compare Grand Forks Air Force Base with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grand Forks Air Force Base. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grand Forks Air Force Base 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.
Grand Forks Air Force Base detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grand Forks Air Force Base: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grand Forks Air Force Base: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grand Forks Air Force Base: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grand Forks Air Force Base: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grand Forks Air Force Base 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.