Best PlacesMorton County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Morton 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.
Morton County ranks 380th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Morton 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.
Morton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Morton County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 137 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of counties
Where Morton County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of counties
- Cheap childcare$990 a month, better than only 17% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 21% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Morton County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Morton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,849; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Morton County's effective rate of 0.99%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Morton County
Morton County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Morton County.
Who works in Morton County, and how
Work in Morton County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Morton County
Morton County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 80% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Morton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Morton County growing, and who is moving in?
Morton County has grown about 15% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Bismarck, ND metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Morton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Morton County, month by month
Morton County sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 15° | 8° |
| April | 53° | 40° | 30° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 57° | 45° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Morton County
The nearest airport, Bismarck Municipal, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 397 miles away.
The best schools in and around Morton County
Schools across Morton County average a C+, better than 44% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sweet Briar SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Little Powder ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Hebron Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mandan Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Horizon Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Moorhead High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- East Grand Forks Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
- Hebron High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Morton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Morton 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 Morton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Morton County suits
Families
Schools land around the 44th percentile and crime safety beats 98%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 86% of counties and health care access beats 83%.
Common questions about living in Morton County
Is Morton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Morton County ranks 380th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and population health, and lowest on tree cover 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 Morton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $297,527. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $79,849 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Morton County safe?
Yes, Morton County is safer than 98% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $256 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Morton County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 23 with lows near 8. That works out to about 137 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of counties.
Is Morton County good for families?
Schools beat 44% of counties, crime safety beats 98%, and childcare runs $990 a month.
Compare Morton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Morton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Morton 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.
Morton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Morton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Morton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Morton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Morton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Morton 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.