Best PlacesKenaston, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kenaston, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kenaston ranks 11,202nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kenaston
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.
Kenaston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kenaston ranks high
- Short commute13.6 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Kenaston ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 13% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cheap childcare$975 a month, better than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kenaston
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kenaston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,474, 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 Kenaston's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kenaston
Kenaston 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 Kenaston.
Who works in Kenaston, and how
Work in Kenaston centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Kenaston
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kenaston.
What the weather is like in Kenaston, month by month
Kenaston sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21° | 13° | 5° |
| April | 51° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 81° | 68° | 56° |
| October | 53° | 41° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Kenaston
The nearest airport, Minot International, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 492 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kenaston
Schools across Kenaston average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kenmare Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Stanley Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Stanley High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Kenmare High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kenaston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kenaston 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 Kenaston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kenaston
Is Kenaston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kenaston ranks 11,202nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, what local pay buys, and a stable housing market, and lowest on distance from a big city and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kenaston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $173,600. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $91,474 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Kenaston safe?
Kenaston is safer than 38% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $435 per resident a year.
Compare Kenaston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kenaston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kenaston 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.
Kenaston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kenaston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kenaston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kenaston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kenaston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kenaston 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.