Best PlacesMcHenry County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in McHenry County, 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.
McHenry County ranks 1,136th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McHenry County
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.
McHenry County's strengths and weaknesses
Where McHenry County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 139 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of counties
Where McHenry County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Short commute29.8 minutes each way, better than only 17% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in McHenry County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McHenry County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,002, 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 McHenry County'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 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 McHenry County
McHenry County 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 McHenry County.
Who works in McHenry County, and how
Work in McHenry County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in McHenry County
McHenry County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of counties and more parkland per resident than 88% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of McHenry County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is McHenry County growing, and who is moving in?
McHenry County has lost about 14% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Minot, ND metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving McHenry County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in McHenry County, month by month
McHenry County sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 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 | 51° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 58° |
| October | 52° | 41° | 32° |
Flying in and out of McHenry County
The nearest airport, Minot International, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 422 miles away.
The best schools in and around McHenry County
Schools across McHenry County average a B−, better than 59% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rugby Ely Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Newburg-united Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Velva Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Newburg-united High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Velva High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Rugby High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McHenry County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McHenry County 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 McHenry County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in McHenry County
Is McHenry County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McHenry County ranks 1,136th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, a stable housing market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on noise 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 McHenry County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,709. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $79,002 median income, cost of living beats 89% of counties.
Is McHenry County safe?
Yes, McHenry County is safer than 73% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $354 per resident a year.
Compare McHenry County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McHenry County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McHenry County 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.
McHenry County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McHenry County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McHenry County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McHenry County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McHenry County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McHenry County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.