Best PlacesOliver County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Oliver 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.
Oliver County ranks 841st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oliver 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.
Oliver County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oliver County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of counties
Where Oliver County ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 6% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Oliver County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oliver County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,711, 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 Oliver County's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oliver County
Oliver County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oliver County.
Who works in Oliver County, and how
Work in Oliver County centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Oliver County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oliver County.
Is Oliver County growing, and who is moving in?
Oliver County has grown about 1% 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 Oliver County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Oliver County, month by month
Oliver County sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 15° | 6° |
| April | 54° | 40° | 28° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 57° |
| October | 56° | 43° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Oliver County
The nearest airport, Bismarck Municipal, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 418 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oliver County
Schools across Oliver County average a C+, better than 46% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hazen Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Washburn Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Center-stanton Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Beulah Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Hazen High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Washburn High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- East Grand Forks Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oliver County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oliver 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 Oliver County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Oliver County
Is Oliver County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oliver County ranks 841st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, a stable housing market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oliver County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,025. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $80,711 median income, cost of living beats 89% of counties.
Is Oliver County safe?
Yes, Oliver County is safer than 88% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $297 per resident a year.
Compare Oliver County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oliver County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oliver 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.
Oliver County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oliver County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oliver County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oliver County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oliver County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oliver 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.