Best PlacesSioux County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sioux 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.
Sioux County ranks 3,015th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sioux 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.
Sioux County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sioux County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
- QuietBetter than 96% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Short commute17.8 minutes each way, better than 88% of counties
Where Sioux County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
- Household income$42,849 median, better than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 2% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sioux County
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sioux County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $42,849, 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 Sioux County's effective rate of 0.25%, 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 Sioux County
Sioux County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sioux County.
Who works in Sioux County, and how
Work in Sioux County centers on education and arts & entertainment. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Sioux County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sioux County.
Is Sioux County growing, and who is moving in?
Sioux County has lost about 17% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Rolette County, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sioux County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sioux County, month by month
Sioux County sees roughly 133 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 14° | 5° |
| April | 54° | 40° | 29° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 60° | 46° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Sioux County
The nearest airport, Bismarck Municipal, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 374 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sioux County
Schools across Sioux County average a D, better than 6% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sundance ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- S.g. Reinertsen ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Browns Valley ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fort Yates Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Moorhead High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Selfridge High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sioux County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sioux 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 Sioux County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Sioux County
Is Sioux County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sioux County ranks 3,015th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, quiet, and a stable housing market, and lowest on thin health care access and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sioux County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $96,941. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $42,849 median income, cost of living beats 2% of counties.
Is Sioux County safe?
Sioux County is safer than 2% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,073 per resident a year.
Compare Sioux County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sioux County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sioux 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.
Sioux County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sioux County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sioux County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sioux County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sioux County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sioux 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.