Best PlacesHeil, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Heil, 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.
Heil ranks 27,725th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Heil
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.
Heil's strengths and weaknesses
Where Heil ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute20.3 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
Where Heil ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$51,588 median, better than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Heil
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Heil home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,588, 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 Heil's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Heil
Heil 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 Heil.
Who works in Heil, and how
Work in Heil centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Heil
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Heil.
What the weather is like in Heil, month by month
Heil sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 16° | 6° |
| April | 55° | 40° | 28° |
| July | 85° | 70° | 57° |
| October | 58° | 44° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Heil
The nearest airport, Bismarck Municipal, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 422 miles away.
The best schools in and around Heil
Schools across Heil average a B−, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Roosevelt Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Elgin-new Leipzig Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Elgin-new Leipzig High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Hebron High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Flasher High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Heil school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Heil 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 Heil against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Heil
Is Heil a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Heil ranks 27,725th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, a stable housing market, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Heil expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $93,455. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $51,588 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Heil safe?
Heil is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $431 per resident a year.
Compare Heil with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Heil. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Heil 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.
Heil detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Heil: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Heil: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Heil: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Heil: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Heil 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.