Best PlacesWahpeton, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wahpeton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wahpeton ranks 12,744th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wahpeton
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.
Wahpeton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wahpeton ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute18.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 137 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
Where Wahpeton ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wahpeton
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wahpeton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,542, 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 Wahpeton's effective rate of 1.25%, 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 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 Wahpeton
Wahpeton runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Wahpeton.
Who works in Wahpeton, and how
Work in Wahpeton centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Wahpeton
Wahpeton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of towns and more parkland per resident than 95% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wahpeton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wahpeton, month by month
Wahpeton sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 4. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 12° | 4° |
| April | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Wahpeton
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 190 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wahpeton
Schools across Wahpeton average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wyndmere Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Richland Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Wahpeton Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wahpeton Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Circle Of NationsF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Wyndmere High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Wahpeton High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Richland Junior-senior High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wahpeton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wahpeton 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 Wahpeton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wahpeton
Is Wahpeton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wahpeton ranks 12,744th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on disaster risk and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wahpeton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,050. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $66,542 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Wahpeton safe?
Yes, Wahpeton is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $291 per resident a year.
Compare Wahpeton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wahpeton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wahpeton 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.
Wahpeton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wahpeton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wahpeton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wahpeton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wahpeton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wahpeton 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.
- 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.