Best PlacesWard County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ward 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.
Ward County ranks 200th 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 Ward 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.
Ward County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ward County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 148 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of counties
Where Ward County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$976 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ward County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ward County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,244, 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 Ward County's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 Ward County
Ward County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ward County.
Who works in Ward County, and how
Work in Ward County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Ward County
Ward County has more late-night spots per resident than 67% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Ward County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ward County growing, and who is moving in?
Ward County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from McKenzie County, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ward County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ward County, month by month
Ward County sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 15° | 7° |
| April | 55° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 86° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 57° | 45° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Ward County
The nearest airport, Minot International, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 450 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ward County
Schools across Ward County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bel Air Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Bell Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Burlington-des Lacs Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Memorial Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Jim Hill Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Erik Ramstad Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Des Lacs-burlington High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- North Shore Plaza High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Velva High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ward County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ward 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 Ward County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ward County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 92% of counties and health care access beats 63%.
Common questions about living in Ward County
Is Ward County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ward County ranks 200th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, population health, and heat safety, 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 Ward County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $283,441. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $84,244 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Ward County safe?
Yes, Ward County is safer than 89% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $316 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ward County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 24 with lows near 7. That works out to about 148 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of counties.
Is Ward County good for families?
Schools beat 66% of counties, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $976 a month.
Compare Ward County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ward County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ward 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.
Ward County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ward County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ward County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ward County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ward County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ward 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.