Best PlacesLignite, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lignite, 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.
Lignite ranks 5,148th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lignite
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.
Lignite's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lignite ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 165 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 86% of towns
Where Lignite ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$960 a month, better than only 28% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lignite
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lignite home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,459, 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 Lignite's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Lignite
Lignite'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 Lignite.
Who works in Lignite, and how
Work in Lignite centers on construction and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Lignite
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lignite.
What the weather is like in Lignite, month by month
Lignite sees roughly 165 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 1. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 10° | 1° |
| April | 52° | 37° | 26° |
| July | 81° | 67° | 55° |
| October | 55° | 40° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Lignite
The nearest airport, Williston Basin International, is about 67 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 519 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lignite
Schools across Lignite average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Powers Lake Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Burke Central Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Bowbells Elementary SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Bowbells High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Powers Lake High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Burke Central High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lignite school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lignite 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 Lignite against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lignite
Is Lignite a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lignite ranks 5,148th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, what local pay buys, and a stable housing market, 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 Lignite expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $214,333. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $91,459 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Lignite safe?
Yes, Lignite is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $345 per resident a year.
Compare Lignite with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lignite. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lignite 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.
Lignite detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lignite: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lignite: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lignite: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lignite: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lignite 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.