Best PlacesSlope County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Slope County, 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.
Slope County ranks 818th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Slope 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.
Slope County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Slope County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 140 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of counties
Where Slope County ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Slope County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Slope County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,250, 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 Slope County's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 Slope County
Slope 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 Slope County.
Who works in Slope County, and how
Work in Slope County centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 21%
Life in Slope County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Slope County.
Is Slope County growing, and who is moving in?
Slope County has lost about 15% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fort Collins, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Slope County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Slope County, month by month
Slope County sees roughly 140 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 20° | 8° |
| April | 57° | 41° | 27° |
| July | 90° | 73° | 55° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Slope County
The nearest airport, Dickinson/Theodore Roosevelt Regional, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 457 miles away.
The best schools in and around Slope County
Schools across Slope County average a B−, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Little Powder ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Marmarth Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Rhame Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Sheridan High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Scranton High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Bowman Co High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Slope County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Slope 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 Slope County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Slope County
Is Slope County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Slope County ranks 818th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, health care access, and a stable housing market, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Slope County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,000. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $71,250 median income, cost of living beats 77% of counties.
Is Slope County safe?
Slope County is safer than 42% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $437 per resident a year.
Compare Slope County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Slope County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Slope 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.
Slope County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Slope County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Slope County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Slope County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Slope County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Slope 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.