The 10 Worst Small Towns In North Dakota For 2023


We used Saturday Night Science to determine the worst small towns in North Dakota.

Most Americans have never been to small town North Dakota. However, as the North Dakotan who live there know, small town North Dakota is an awesome place to call home.

But is it all roses? Definitely not. Just like any other state, North Dakota has its trouble spots. This article aims to determine, using Saturday Night Science, the absolute worst small towns to live in the Peace Garden State. Don’t freak out, we will use data to show which places have high crime, poverty, and unemployment.

After analyzing more than 42 of North Dakota’s smallest cities, we came up with this list as the 10 worst small towns in North Dakota where you’d never want to live:

These are the worst small towns in North Dakota for 2023:

  1. Shell Valley
  2. Fort Totten
  3. Rolla
  4. Belcourt
  5. Cando
  6. Parshall
  7. Ellendale
  8. New Town
  9. New Rockford
  10. Enderlin

So what is the worst small town to call home in North Dakota for 2023? According to the most recent census data, Shell Valley is the worst small town to live in North Dakota.

While many of these small towns have seen better days, they have wonderful communities and people. This report in no way means to knock the folks that call towns like Shell Valley home. Everyone

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers, or scroll to the bottom to see how your town ranked.

And if you already know about the small towns, check out the best places to live in North Dakota or the worst places to live in North Dakota.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the worst cities in America or the worst states in America.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Worst Small Towns In North Dakota For 2023

1. Shell Valley

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 1,227
Median Home Value: $63,900 (2nd worst)
Unemployment Rate: 26.7% (worst)

2. Fort Totten

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 1,167
Median Home Value: $50,400 (worst)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (12th worst)

3. Rolla

Rolla, ND

Source: Flickr User afiler | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,192
Median Home Value: $101,000 (8th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 7.6% (4th worst)

4. Belcourt

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,751
Median Home Value: $101,700 (9th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 7.0% (6th worst)

5. Cando

Cando, ND

Source: Wikipedia User FlickreviewR | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,228
Median Home Value: $113,300 (12th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 5.1% (8th worst)

6. Parshall

Parshall, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Leoboudv | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,317
Median Home Value: $144,700 (22nd worst)
Unemployment Rate: 2.8% (23rd worst)

7. Ellendale

Ellendale, ND

Source: Flickr User afiler | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,067
Median Home Value: $82,500 (3rd worst)
Unemployment Rate: 3.7% (19th worst)

8. New Town

New Town, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,745
Median Home Value: $151,000 (26th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 4.1% (17th worst)

9. New Rockford

New Rockford, ND

Source: Wikipedia User Flickr upload bot | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,374
Median Home Value: $88,400 (5th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 1.9% (29th worst)

10. Enderlin

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,039
Median Home Value: $86,600 (4th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 4.2% (16th worst)

Methodology: How do you decide if a small place in North Dakota is lousy or not?

To rank the worst small towns to live in North Dakota, we had to determine what criteria people like or dislike about a place. Assuming that people like low crime, solid education, things to do, and a stable economy isn’t a stretch.

We then analyzed the criteria using Saturday Night Science, the thinking you’d use at a bar. It seems like even your crazy Uncle would agree that a town with high crime is worse than a town with low crime; all else the same.

Using FBI crime data and the Census’s 2017-2021 American Community Survey, this is the criteria we used:

  • Population Density (The lower, the worse)
  • Highest Unemployment Rates
  • Low housing costs (meaning there’s no demand)
  • Adjusted Median Income (Median income adjusted for the cost of living)
  • Education (Number of high school dropouts)
  • High Crime

We looked at cities with populations between 1,000 and 5,000 people, of which there were many – 42 to be exact.

We get the crime numbers from the FBI, which gets them from the cities. Dropout numbers are based on the adult population, not just the current graduation rates of teenagers.

We base all our research on facts, which is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2023, which is our tenth time ranking the worst small places to live in North Dakota.

There You Have It – The Worst Small Towns In North Dakota

If you’re analyzing teeny places in the Peace Garden State with the worst economic situations, where there’s high crime and there’s not a lot to do, this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious enough, here are the best small towns to live in North Dakota, according to science:

  1. Lincoln (Pop. 4,126)
  2. Horace (Pop. 3,141)
  3. Thompson (Pop. 1,194)

For more North Dakota reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Small Towns In North Dakota

Rank Town Population Unemployment Rate Home Value
1 Shell Valley 1,227 26.7% $63,900
2 Fort Totten 1,167 4.7% $50,400
3 Rolla 1,192 7.6% $101,000
4 Belcourt 1,751 7.0% $101,700
5 Cando 1,228 5.1% $113,300
6 Parshall 1,317 2.8% $144,700
7 Ellendale 1,067 3.7% $82,500
8 New Town 2,745 4.1% $151,000
9 New Rockford 1,374 1.9% $88,400
10 Enderlin 1,039 4.2% $86,600
11 Grafton 4,186 3.2% $97,400
12 Tioga 1,335 4.5% $172,700
13 Park River 1,577 2.0% $94,300
14 Cavalier 1,357 11.0% $119,500
15 Mayville 1,964 3.7% $147,300
16 Crosby 1,076 3.4% $104,200
17 Bowman 1,604 4.8% $159,600
18 Harvey 1,701 1.2% $126,500
19 Langdon 1,924 1.9% $121,500
20 Lisbon 2,109 4.3% $127,400
21 Hettinger 1,116 1.6% $105,900
22 Hazen 2,564 5.0% $161,800
23 Beach 1,017 3.9% $113,800
24 Bottineau 2,141 7.6% $130,100
25 Garrison 1,577 0.8% $151,200
26 Rugby 2,546 0.5% $141,200
27 Oakes 1,981 4.5% $121,800
28 Carrington 2,133 0.0% $132,700
29 Grand Forks Afb 2,678 5.3% $1,000
30 Stanley 2,079 4.8% $189,100
31 Beulah 3,070 1.2% $194,300
32 Hillsboro 1,613 1.9% $146,100
33 Larimore 1,385 1.6% $148,200
34 Mapleton 1,169 2.7% $211,600
35 Burlington 1,534 10.3% $197,200
36 Casselton 2,493 1.4% $237,200
37 Washburn 1,545 0.3% $202,400
38 Velva 1,120 1.7% $159,900
39 Surrey 1,430 2.1% $258,700
40 Lincoln 4,126 2.6% $232,300
41 Horace 3,141 0.7% $378,700
42 Thompson 1,194 0.1% $242,700
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

3 thoughts on “The 10 Worst Small Towns In North Dakota For 2023

  1. I’m not trying to be mean or anything, or am saying that you’re 100% wrong, but I can personally say that Tappen should NOT be on that list. I’ve lived near Tappen my entire life, and while some things might not be perfect, it certainly is far from being a bad town. The people that live there are friendly. If anything happens to someone we know, the whole community comes together to support them. From the school to the gas station, things in Tappen are good!

  2. My Family is from Tappen and I don’t think it should be on this list. Just because it is small does not mean it is bad. We do lots of fun things like harvest fest and lots of others. So take Tappen of this list. And Medina

  3. It’s worth noting that the appearance of a town on this list only means that it is within the population parameters. There are 179 such towns. Of those 179, these are the worst 100 by the standards they used to rank these towns.

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