Best PlacesPierce County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pierce 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.
Pierce County ranks 696th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pierce 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.
Pierce County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pierce County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of counties
- Short commute11.3 minutes each way, better than 99% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of counties
Where Pierce County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$929 a month, better than only 24% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pierce County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pierce County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,712, 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 Pierce County's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Pierce County
Pierce 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 Pierce County.
Who works in Pierce County, and how
Work in Pierce County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Pierce County
Pierce County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Pierce County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pierce County growing, and who is moving in?
Pierce County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Rolette County, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pierce County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pierce County, month by month
Pierce County sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 18, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18° | 10° | 2° |
| April | 49° | 37° | 27° |
| July | 81° | 68° | 57° |
| October | 52° | 41° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Pierce County
The nearest airport, Devils Lake Regional, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 400 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pierce County
Schools across Pierce County average a B, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Kittson Central ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Rugby Ely Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- North Star Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- North Star High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Leeds High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Rugby High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pierce County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pierce 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 Pierce County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Pierce County
Is Pierce County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pierce County ranks 696th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, short commutes, and a stable housing market, 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 Pierce County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $144,881. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $64,712 median income, cost of living beats 51% of counties.
Is Pierce County safe?
Pierce County is safer than 35% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $510 per resident a year.
Compare Pierce County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pierce County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pierce 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.
Pierce County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pierce County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pierce County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pierce County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pierce County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pierce 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.