Here Are The 10 Best Cities In North Dakota To Raise A Family
By Leah|Published January 16, 2017
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Leah
Author
Leah moved to North Dakota when she was 12 years old and has traveled from the Red River Valley to the badlands and many places in between. She loves small-town life and currently enjoys living on a small farm in the ND prairie. She's always had a passion for writing and has participated in novel writing challenges such as NaNoWriMo multiple times. Her favorite part about this job is recognizing small businesses that deserve a boost and seeing the positive affect her articles can have on their traffic, especially in rural areas that might have otherwise gone overlooked.
If you’re just beginning your family, you always want to be in a place with the best possible opportunities for them. Everything from education, crime rate, and local amenities comes to mind when trying to find a suitable place to live and it can be quite overwhelming at times. Luckily, there are sites like Niche that gathers data from the FBI, US Census Bureau, CDC, and other sources to determine the best possible places to live for any lifestyle. This data takes into account crime and safety rates, local school quality, cost of living and average income, and more.
Fargo starts off our list at #10. Being the biggest city in the state has its perks, but also means that there is a slightly higher crime rate, lowering its ranking on the list. The city still has the most amenities out of any place in the state and it also has great opportunities for higher education at the North Dakota State University, which is located here. There are plenty of neighborhoods and living options that open up a lot of doors for many families.
Grand Forks rolls in at ninth on the list. Their public schools rank quite high and of course they also have the University of North Dakota. There is plenty to do here, both within the downtown area and the surrounding area, and lots of options for places to live within it.
Williston ranks next according to Niche, known mostly as an oil boom town that has since quieted down quite a bit. The cost of living here has also dropped and there is a wide variety of homes to live in, family-friendly amenities, and public schools that are perfect for a budding family.
Coming in at seventh is Devils Lake, North Dakota. This city is famous for being on the huge lake after the same name and attracts many visitors. Beyond that, their public school grade is fairly high and like most of North Dakota the crime rates are low.
Minot takes the next spot on the ranking. With the nickname the "Magic City," which came from the insanely fast growth it had in its early days, it has just about everything you need for your family without the sky high costs of living found in some other places.
Scenic Valley City, or the "City of Bridges," ranks fifth on this list. It's a bit smaller than some of the other cities on this list but it still has family-friendly amenities and also Valley City State University as an option for nearby higher education. Plus, they have beautiful scenery surrounding the city that will make you love the outdoors.
North Dakota's capitol city comes in at fourth on the list. It is busy and bustling but still has quiet suburbs and many options for housing. Each data point used for ranking Bismarck is good across the board, making it an overall great place to live.
Stanley comes in at third and is also one of the smallest cities on this list at just about 1,500 residents, but that still is the eighteenth largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Mountrail County and can offer the quiet small town life without sacrificing local amenities your family would benefit from.
West Fargo is full of suburbs and facilities that are absolutely perfect for raising a family. They've got good public schools, wonderful neighborhoods, plus the perks of being minutes away from downtown Fargo and all that has to offer. If you want to have the wide variety of stores, attractions, and businesses of a city without losing the quiet suburb life for your loved ones, then West Fargo is for you.
Horace ranks #1 on this list according to Niche as the best place in North Dakota to raise a family. Like West Fargo, this is a suburb of the city of Fargo itself, but small enough and quiet enough it's like living the small town life but having a city of possibilities within reach for just about everything you need. The education rates from elementary to college are very good and it is the perfect size of city for many people. It is one of the fastest growing places in North Dakota for that reason.
