The 10 Worst Small Towns In North Dakota For 2023

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:

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

Next 10 Towns

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