Best PlacesStutsman County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stutsman 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.
Stutsman County ranks 1,061st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stutsman 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.
Stutsman County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stutsman County ranks high
- Short commute14.1 minutes each way, better than 97% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 82% of counties
Where Stutsman County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stutsman County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stutsman County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,167, 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 Stutsman County's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stutsman County
Stutsman County'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 Stutsman County.
Who works in Stutsman County, and how
Work in Stutsman County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Stutsman County
Stutsman County has more parkland per resident than 70% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Stutsman County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Stutsman County growing, and who is moving in?
Stutsman County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fargo, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stutsman County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stutsman County, month by month
Stutsman County sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 13° | 5° |
| April | 52° | 40° | 30° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 57° | 45° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Stutsman County
The nearest airport, Jamestown Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 300 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stutsman County
Schools across Stutsman County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Kensal Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Barnes County North Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Louis L'amour Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jamestown Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Horizon Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Gackle-streeter High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Medina High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Litchville-marion High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stutsman County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stutsman 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 Stutsman County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Stutsman County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 91% of counties and health care access beats 74%.
Common questions about living in Stutsman County
Is Stutsman County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stutsman County ranks 1,061st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and the weather, and lowest on air quality and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stutsman County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,968. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $68,167 median income, cost of living beats 56% of counties.
Is Stutsman County safe?
Stutsman County is safer than 30% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $515 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stutsman County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 22 with lows near 5. That works out to about 146 pleasant days a year, more than 91% of counties.
Is Stutsman County good for families?
Schools beat 77% of counties, crime safety beats 30%, and childcare runs $915 a month.
Compare Stutsman County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stutsman County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stutsman 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.
Stutsman County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stutsman County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stutsman County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stutsman County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stutsman County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stutsman 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.