Best PlacesNorwich, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norwich, 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.
Norwich ranks 16,736th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Norwich
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.
Norwich's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norwich ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 154 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of towns
Where Norwich ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Norwich
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norwich home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,973, 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 Norwich's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Norwich
Norwich's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Norwich.
Who works in Norwich, and how
Work in Norwich centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Norwich
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Norwich.
What the weather is like in Norwich, month by month
Norwich sees roughly 154 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 15° | 7° |
| April | 55° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 86° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 57° | 45° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Norwich
The nearest airport, Minot International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 436 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norwich
Schools across Norwich average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Velva Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Sawyer Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Surrey Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Velva High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Tgu-towner High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Surrey High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norwich school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norwich 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 Norwich against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Norwich
Is Norwich a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norwich ranks 16,736th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low 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 Norwich expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $167,358. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $83,973 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Norwich safe?
Yes, Norwich is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $339 per resident a year.
Compare Norwich with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norwich. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norwich 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.
Norwich detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norwich: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norwich: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norwich: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norwich: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norwich 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.