Best PlacesMountrail County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Mountrail County, 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.
Mountrail County ranks 1,101st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mountrail 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.
Mountrail County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mountrail County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of counties
- Short commute19.1 minutes each way, better than 84% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 82% of counties
Where Mountrail County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 8% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cheap childcare$959 a month, better than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Mountrail County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mountrail County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,371, 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 Mountrail County's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mountrail County
Mountrail County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mountrail County.
Who works in Mountrail County, and how
Work in Mountrail County centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Mountrail County
Mountrail County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Mountrail County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Mountrail County growing, and who is moving in?
Mountrail County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Bismarck, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Mountrail County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Mountrail County, month by month
Mountrail County sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 4. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 13° | 4° |
| April | 54° | 39° | 28° |
| July | 83° | 69° | 57° |
| October | 56° | 43° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Mountrail County
The nearest airport, Minot International, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 490 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mountrail County
Schools across Mountrail County average a D+, better than 8% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Kenmare Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Berthold Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- North Shore Plaza Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Town Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- North Shore Plaza High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Powers Lake High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Berthold High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mountrail County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mountrail 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 Mountrail County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Mountrail County
Is Mountrail County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mountrail County ranks 1,101st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, low property taxes, and clean air, 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 Mountrail County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $243,858. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $82,371 median income, cost of living beats 79% of counties.
Is Mountrail County safe?
Mountrail County is safer than 37% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $500 per resident a year.
Compare Mountrail County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mountrail County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mountrail 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.
Mountrail County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mountrail County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mountrail County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mountrail County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mountrail County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mountrail 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.