Best PlacesTraill County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Traill 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.
Traill County ranks 256th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Traill 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.
Traill County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Traill County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of counties
Where Traill County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of counties
- Cheap childcare$929 a month, better than only 24% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 28% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Traill County
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Traill County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,383, 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 Traill County's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Traill County
Traill 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 Traill County.
Who works in Traill County, and how
Work in Traill County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Traill County
Traill County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of counties and more parkland per resident than 83% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Traill County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Traill County growing, and who is moving in?
Traill County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fargo, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Traill County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Traill County, month by month
Traill County sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 19, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19° | 10° | 2° |
| April | 51° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 56° | 45° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Traill County
The nearest airport, Grand Forks International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 263 miles away.
The best schools in and around Traill County
Schools across Traill County average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Central Valley Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Peter Boe Jr Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Northern Cass Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northern Cass Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- May-port Cg Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Valley High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Northern Cass High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Hillsboro High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Traill County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Traill 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 Traill County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Traill County
Is Traill County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Traill County ranks 256th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, what local pay buys, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Traill County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,119. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $87,383 median income, cost of living beats 92% of counties.
Is Traill County safe?
Yes, Traill County is safer than 69% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $375 per resident a year.
Compare Traill County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Traill County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Traill 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.
Traill County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Traill County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Traill County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Traill County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Traill County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Traill 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.