Best PlacesNorma, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norma, 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.
Norma ranks 15,653rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Distance from a big city pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Norma
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.
Norma's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norma ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 83% of towns
Where Norma ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Norma
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,604, 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 Norma's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Norma
Norma 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 Norma.
Who works in Norma, and how
Work in Norma centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Norma
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Norma.
What the weather is like in Norma, month by month
Norma sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21° | 13° | 5° |
| April | 51° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 81° | 68° | 56° |
| October | 53° | 41° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Norma
The nearest airport, Minot International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 492 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norma
Schools across Norma average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kenmare Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Kenmare High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norma school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norma 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 Norma against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Norma
Is Norma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norma ranks 15,653rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and heat safety, and lowest on distance from a big city and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Norma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $137,248. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $85,604 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is Norma safe?
Norma is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $464 per resident a year.
Compare Norma with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norma 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.
Norma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norma 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.