Best PlacesMarion, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Marion, 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.
Marion ranks 8,210th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Marion
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.
Marion's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marion ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of towns
Where Marion ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 37% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Marion
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marion home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,857, 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 Marion's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Marion
Marion 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 Marion.
Who works in Marion, and how
Work in Marion 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 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Marion
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Marion.
What the weather is like in Marion, month by month
Marion sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 13° | 5° |
| April | 52° | 40° | 30° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 57° | 45° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Marion
The nearest airport, Jamestown Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 273 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marion
Schools across Marion average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lamoure Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Montpelier Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washington Elementary SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Litchville-marion High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Valley City High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Lamoure High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marion school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marion 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 Marion against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Marion
Is Marion a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marion ranks 8,210th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on air quality 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 Marion expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,311. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $90,857 median income, cost of living beats 86% of towns.
Is Marion safe?
Yes, Marion is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.
Compare Marion with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marion. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marion 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.
Marion detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marion: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marion: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marion: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marion: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marion 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.