Best PlacesPembina County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pembina County, 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.
Pembina County ranks 607th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pembina 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.
Pembina County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pembina County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Short commute17.0 minutes each way, better than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of counties
Where Pembina County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of counties
- Cheap childcare$904 a month, better than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pembina County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pembina County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,975, 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 Pembina County's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pembina County
Pembina 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 Pembina County.
Who works in Pembina County, and how
Work in Pembina County centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Pembina County
Pembina County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of counties and more parkland per resident than 93% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pembina County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pembina County growing, and who is moving in?
Pembina County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Bismarck, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pembina County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pembina County, month by month
Pembina County sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 18, with lows near 1. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18° | 9° | 1° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 29° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 59° |
| October | 53° | 43° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Pembina County
The nearest airport, Grand Forks International, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 339 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pembina County
Schools across Pembina County average a B, better than 71% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- North Border-walhalla Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Kittson Central ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Valley-edinburg Elementary School-crystalA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Cavalier High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Kittson Central SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- North Border-pembina High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pembina County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pembina 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 Pembina County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Pembina County
Is Pembina County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pembina County ranks 607th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, a stable housing market, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pembina County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $133,974. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $71,975 median income, cost of living beats 78% of counties.
Is Pembina County safe?
Yes, Pembina County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $397 per resident a year.
Compare Pembina County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pembina County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pembina 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.
Pembina County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pembina County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pembina County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pembina County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pembina County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pembina 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.