Best PlacesNorman County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Norman 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.
Norman County ranks 1,110th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Norman 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.
Norman County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norman County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 129 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of counties
- QuietBetter than 82% of counties
Where Norman County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Norman County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norman County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,826, 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 Norman County's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 Norman County
Norman 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 Norman County.
Who works in Norman County, and how
Work in Norman County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Norman County
Norman County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Norman County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Norman County growing, and who is moving in?
Norman County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fargo, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Norman County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Norman County, month by month
Norman County sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 3. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 12° | 3° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 59° |
| October | 60° | 46° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Norman County
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 229 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norman County
Schools across Norman County average a C, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fertile-beltrami ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Climax ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Ulen-hitterdal ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waubun ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Fertile-beltrami SecondaryB · 47% proficient
- Ulen-hitterdal SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Norman County East SecondaryC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norman County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norman 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 Norman County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Norman County
Is Norman County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norman County ranks 1,110th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, a stable housing market, and health care access, and lowest on taxes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Norman County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,766. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $71,826 median income, cost of living beats 75% of counties.
Is Norman County safe?
Norman County is safer than 51% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $342 per resident a year.
Compare Norman County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norman County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norman 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.
Norman County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norman County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norman County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norman County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norman County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norman 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.