Best PlacesHensler, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hensler, 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.
Hensler ranks 15,311th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hensler
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.
Hensler's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hensler ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 128 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
Where Hensler ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hensler
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hensler home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,779, 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 Hensler's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hensler
Hensler 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 Hensler.
Who works in Hensler, and how
Work in Hensler centers on education and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hensler
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hensler.
What the weather is like in Hensler, month by month
Hensler sees roughly 128 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 Hensler
The nearest airport, Bismarck Municipal, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 412 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hensler
Schools across Hensler average a C+, better than 44% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washburn Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Center-stanton Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Washburn High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Center-stanton High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hensler school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hensler 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 Hensler against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hensler
Is Hensler a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hensler ranks 15,311th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, health care access, and low taxes, and lowest on distance from a big city and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hensler expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $194,990. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $78,779 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Hensler safe?
Yes, Hensler is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $266 per resident a year.
Compare Hensler with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hensler. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hensler 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.
Hensler detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hensler: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hensler: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hensler: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hensler: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hensler 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.