Best PlacesRoss, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ross, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ross ranks 13,412th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ross
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.
Ross' strengths and weaknesses
Where Ross ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Household income$106,973 median, better than 88% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
Where Ross ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 24% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ross
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ross home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $106,973, 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 Ross' 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 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 Ross
Ross'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 Ross.
Who works in Ross, and how
Work in Ross centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ross
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ross.
What the weather is like in Ross, month by month
Ross sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 21, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs June 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 | 54° | 42° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Ross
The nearest airport, Williston Basin International, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 502 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ross
Schools across Ross average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Powers Lake Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Stanley Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Central Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Town Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Powers Lake High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Tioga High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Stanley High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ross school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ross 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 Ross against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ross
Is Ross a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ross ranks 13,412th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, heat safety, and high incomes, 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 Ross expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $308,866. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $106,973 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Ross safe?
Ross is safer than 36% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $444 per resident a year.
Compare Ross with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ross. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ross 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.
Ross detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ross: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ross: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ross: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ross: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ross 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.