Best PlacesPalermo, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palermo, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Palermo ranks 24,097th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Palermo
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.
Palermo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palermo ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute20.2 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of towns
Where Palermo ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Palermo
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palermo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,115, 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 Palermo's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Palermo
Palermo runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Palermo.
Who works in Palermo, and how
Work in Palermo centers on construction and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Palermo
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Palermo.
What the weather is like in Palermo, month by month
Palermo sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 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 | 82° | 69° | 57° |
| October | 53° | 41° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Palermo
The nearest airport, Minot International, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 489 miles away.
The best schools in and around Palermo
Schools across Palermo average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Shore Plaza Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Stanley Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Parshall Elementary SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- North Shore Plaza High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Stanley High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Parshall High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palermo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palermo 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 Palermo against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Palermo
Is Palermo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palermo ranks 24,097th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, low taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palermo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $247,700. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $77,115 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is Palermo safe?
Palermo is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $451 per resident a year.
Compare Palermo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palermo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palermo 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.
Palermo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palermo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palermo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palermo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palermo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palermo 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.