Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 136,275, Fargo does unevenly: it grades C+, 18th among North Dakota's 23 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 89% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 92% of U.S. towns. The trade-off: its police reported 518 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 92% of U.S. towns. 70% of working residents work locally in Fargo, above both North Dakota’s towns (38%) and U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Research Plot 30 and Northern Pacific Railway Depot. On the outdoors, just 5 of North Dakota’s 69 towns do better.
Where Fargo beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Northern Pacific Railway Depot
Jake Hager
Its 30 National Register listings are more than in 92% of North Dakota towns with a listing.
Census counts: 2,693 in 1880, 125,990 in 2020. The archive holds 114 old photos and papers going back to 1876 and 3 maps from 1959 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Dakota), ordered by how far Fargo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fargo, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Jul 30, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Fargo.
Fargo draws workers from West Fargo and beyond and has colder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, but it reports property crime at about twice the North Dakota rate.
96,916 jobs are based in Fargo, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Fargo’s income of the median household stands at $67,000. Since 2013, Fargo has added 10,061 jobs, to 96,916 in 2023. For residents here, the share who live below the poverty line is 13%. The top destinations are West Fargo (10%), Moorhead (5%) and Bismarck (2%).
| Fargo | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 9.6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 9.8% | 5.5% | 11% |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Of its 41 schools, three are listed below, each with the reason. The public schools here belong to the Fargo 1 school district. Public school enrollment here: 3,298 students across 6 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 992 | A− |
| Fargo Davies High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,277 | C+ |
| Longfellow Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 386 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ND on state tests and graduation
Property crime runs at 32.4 per 1,000 residents, about twice the North Dakota rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 5,900 to 5,019 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
In Fargo, the property crime rate is 32.4 per 1,000 residents. Its violent offense rate comes in at 3.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Fargo | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 32.4 per 1,000 residents | 14.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
74% of Fargo adults had a checkup this year. No town among the 23 in North Dakota we compare has a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Fargo. Among adults here, 10% report frequent physical distress and 28% have high blood pressure. The town does better than the North Dakota average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 3.
| Fargo | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 22% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 11% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Fargo | ND |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.5% | 8.2% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.9% | 6.1% |
| More adults with depression | 24.1% | 21.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
45 miles of trail in 68 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Lindenwood Park, 92 acres with 1.2 miles of trail. The trail density in Fargo is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Fargo | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.3% | 2.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Iwen Park | 3.8 mi | 51 |
| 2. Ponte's Park | 1.8 mi | 39 |
| 3. Island Park | 1.4 mi | 37 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 0.2°, colder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 82°. The Fargo Hector Intl Ap weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 143 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 86% of North Dakota places with climate records.
For Fargo, the typical July afternoon high is 82°F. About 51 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 4.1%. The share of households in Fargo who are owner-occupiers: 44%. Also worth knowing: the midpoint rent for Fargo comes to $946 a month.
| Fargo | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 44% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $946 a month | $980 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 41% | 40% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1,136 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 16 properties have flooded more than once.
Of the losses FEMA expects in Fargo, 48% come from inland flooding and 16% from tornadoes. Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in nearly three fifths of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 1,136 flood insurance claims have been paid out here.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fargo. Close and well known come first.
in town Stadium & arenaFargodome
in town MuseumPlains Art Museum
in town Zoo & aquariumRed River Zoo
in town MuseumFargo Air Museum
5 mi MuseumBonanzaville, USA
3 mi MuseumRourke Art MuseumFargodome: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0 · Plains Art Museum: AJ LEON, CC BY 2.0 · Red River Zoo: BrielleMary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fargo Air Museum: Fargo-Moorhead CVB, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bonanzaville, USA: Fargo-Moorhead CVB, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Rourke Art Museum: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Fargo
About 13 of every 100 Fargo residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across North Dakota.
105,549 counted in 2010 and 125,990 in 2020; an estimated 136,275 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 8.2% since 2020, after 19.4% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
30 places in Fargo on the National Register of Historic Places.
91 notable people were born in Fargo.
Most populous city of North Dakota, U.S.
Fargo is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 census and estimated at 136,285 in 2024. Fargo and its twin city of Moorhead, Minnesota, form the core of the Fargo–Moorhead metropolitan area, which had a population of 248,591 in 2020. It is the county seat of Cass County. Fargo was founded in 1871 on the Red River of the North floodplain. It is a cultural, retail, health care, educational, and industrial center for southeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. North Dakota State University is in the city.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Fargo.
| Town | ND rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fargo | #18 | C+ | C+ | D | B− | A |
| Stanley Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Reed Township | — | — | C+ | — | B− | A |
| West Fargo | #7 | B+ | C | B− | B− | A |
| Horace | #11 | B | C− | — | B− | A |
| Frontier | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pleasant Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Briarwood | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Reed Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Reed Township and Horace report no FBI crime data of their own. Stanley Township, Frontier, Pleasant Township and Briarwood aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Fargo with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fargo grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #18 of 23 in North Dakota. It grades A for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($76,756 across the Fargo, ND-MN metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
91 notable people were born here, including Jake Hager and Bobby Vee.
