Best PlacesRansom County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ransom 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.
Ransom County ranks 426th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ransom 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.
Ransom County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ransom County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of counties
Where Ransom County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$984 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ransom County
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ransom County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,510, 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 Ransom County's effective rate of 1.00%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ransom County
Ransom 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 Ransom County.
Who works in Ransom County, and how
Work in Ransom County centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Ransom County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ransom County.
Is Ransom County growing, and who is moving in?
Ransom County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fargo, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ransom County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ransom County, month by month
Ransom County sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 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 | 52° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 57° | 46° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Ransom County
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 240 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ransom County
Schools across Ransom County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fort Ransom Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Kindred Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Lamoure Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lisbon Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Horizon Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Kindred High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Wyndmere High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- North Sargent High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ransom County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ransom 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 Ransom County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Ransom County
Is Ransom County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ransom County ranks 426th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, civic engagement, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ransom County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,879. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $79,510 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Ransom County safe?
Yes, Ransom County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $340 per resident a year.
Compare Ransom County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ransom County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ransom 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.
Ransom County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ransom County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ransom County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ransom County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ransom County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ransom 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.