Best PlacesWhite Shield, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Shield, 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.
White Shield ranks 18,562nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in White Shield
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.
White Shield's strengths and weaknesses
Where White Shield ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- QuietBetter than 85% of towns
Where White Shield ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$960 a month, better than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in White Shield
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Shield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,023, 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 White Shield's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 White Shield
White Shield runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for White Shield.
Who works in White Shield, and how
Work in White Shield centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in White Shield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across White Shield.
What the weather is like in White Shield, month by month
White Shield sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 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 | 53° | 39° | 28° |
| July | 82° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 53° | 42° | 33° |
Flying in and out of White Shield
The nearest airport, Minot International, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 452 miles away.
The best schools in and around White Shield
Schools across White Shield average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bob Callies Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Beulah Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Twin Buttes Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beulah Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Hebron High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- White Shield High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Beulah High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Shield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Shield 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 White Shield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in White Shield
Is White Shield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Shield ranks 18,562nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low taxes, 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 White Shield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,809. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $73,023 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is White Shield safe?
Yes, White Shield is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.
Compare White Shield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Shield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Shield 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.
White Shield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Shield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Shield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Shield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Shield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Shield 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.