Best PlacesStark County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stark County, 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.
Stark County ranks 360th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stark 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.
Stark County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stark County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of counties
- Short commute17.5 minutes each way, better than 89% of counties
- BikingBetter than 84% of counties
Where Stark County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cheap childcare$973 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 20% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stark County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stark County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,850, 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 Stark County's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 Stark County
Stark County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Stark County.
Who works in Stark County, and how
Work in Stark County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Stark County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stark County.
Is Stark County growing, and who is moving in?
Stark County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Billings, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stark County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stark County, month by month
Stark County sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 18° | 7° |
| April | 56° | 40° | 26° |
| July | 87° | 70° | 55° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Stark County
The nearest airport, Dickinson/Theodore Roosevelt Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 480 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stark County
Schools across Stark County average a B, better than 80% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Little Powder ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Hebron Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Tongue River ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tongue River Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Dickinson Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Sheridan High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Tongue River High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- East Grand Forks Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stark County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stark 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 Stark County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Stark County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 83% of counties and health care access beats 64%.
Common questions about living in Stark County
Is Stark County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stark County ranks 360th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, heat safety, and population health, 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 Stark County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $302,443. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $83,850 median income, cost of living beats 79% of counties.
Is Stark County safe?
Yes, Stark County is safer than 67% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stark County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 7. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 83% of counties.
Is Stark County good for families?
Schools beat 80% of counties, crime safety beats 67%, and childcare runs $973 a month.
Compare Stark County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stark County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stark 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.
Stark County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stark County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stark County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stark County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stark County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stark 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.