Best PlacesRichardton, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Richardton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Richardton ranks 13,906th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Distance from a big city pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Richardton
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.
Richardton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Richardton ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of towns
Where Richardton ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cheap childcare$972 a month, better than only 27% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 30% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 40% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Richardton
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richardton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,134, 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 Richardton's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 Richardton
Richardton's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Richardton.
Who works in Richardton, and how
Work in Richardton centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Richardton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Richardton.
What the weather is like in Richardton, month by month
Richardton sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 16° | 6° |
| April | 55° | 40° | 28° |
| July | 85° | 70° | 57° |
| October | 58° | 44° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Richardton
The nearest airport, Dickinson/Theodore Roosevelt Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 456 miles away.
The best schools in and around Richardton
Schools across Richardton average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Little Powder ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Hebron Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Taylor-richardton Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Richardton-taylor Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Sheridan High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Mott-regent 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 Richardton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Richardton 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 Richardton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Richardton
Is Richardton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richardton ranks 13,906th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and heat safety, 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 Richardton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,995. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $77,134 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Richardton safe?
Yes, Richardton is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $351 per resident a year.
Compare Richardton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richardton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richardton 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.
Richardton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richardton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richardton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richardton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richardton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richardton 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.