Best PlacesKenmare, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kenmare, 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.
Kenmare ranks 5,255th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kenmare
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.
Kenmare's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kenmare ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute16.5 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
Where Kenmare ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap childcare$976 a month, better than only 26% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 35% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 42% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kenmare
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kenmare home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,977, 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 Kenmare's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kenmare
Kenmare 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 Kenmare.
Who works in Kenmare, and how
Work in Kenmare 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 85%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Kenmare
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kenmare.
What the weather is like in Kenmare, month by month
Kenmare sees roughly 126 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 Kenmare
The nearest airport, Minot International, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 494 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kenmare
Schools across Kenmare average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mls-mohall Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Kenmare Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Powers Lake Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Bowbells High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Mls-mohall High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Powers Lake High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kenmare school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kenmare 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 Kenmare against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kenmare
Is Kenmare a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kenmare ranks 5,255th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, cell coverage, 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 Kenmare expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $140,093. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $76,977 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Kenmare safe?
Yes, Kenmare is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $324 per resident a year.
Compare Kenmare with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kenmare. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kenmare 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.
Kenmare detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kenmare: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kenmare: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kenmare: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kenmare: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kenmare 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.