Best PlacesWilliams County, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Williams 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.
Williams County ranks 202nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Williams 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.
Williams County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Williams County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 94% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of counties
Where Williams County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,022 a month, better than only 16% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Williams County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Williams County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,431, 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 Williams County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Williams County
Williams County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Williams County.
Who works in Williams County, and how
Work in Williams County centers on health care & social and mining & oil & gas. 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 Williams County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Williams County.
Is Williams County growing, and who is moving in?
Williams County has grown about 27% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minot, ND.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Williams County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Williams County, month by month
Williams County sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 7° |
| April | 55° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 86° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 56° | 43° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Williams County
The nearest airport, Williston Basin International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 542 miles away.
The best schools in and around Williams County
Schools across Williams County average an A−, better than 94% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Little Powder ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Ray Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Divide County Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Sheridan High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- East Grand Forks Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Williams County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Williams 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 Williams County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Williams County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Williams County
Is Williams County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Williams County ranks 202nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, good schools, and cell coverage, and lowest on distance from a big city and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Williams County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $313,065. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $90,431 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Williams County safe?
Williams County is safer than 47% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $434 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Williams County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 7. That works out to about 138 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of counties.
Is Williams County good for families?
Schools beat 94% of counties, crime safety beats 47%, and childcare runs $1,022 a month.
Compare Williams County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Williams County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Williams 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.
Williams County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Williams County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Williams County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Williams County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Williams County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Williams 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.