Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,446, settled in 1903. A typical home costs 3 years of the county’s $84K median household income.
Garrison’s best subject grades are an A+ for cost of living and an A for civic life. 34% of residents are 65 or older in Garrison, against 13% in North Dakota’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. Only 2 of North Dakota’s 68 towns score higher on cost of living. Garrison has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Garrison beats most towns.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Dakota), ordered by how far Garrison is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 406 in 1910, 1,462 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1920 and 3 maps from 1922 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Garrison, 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 Garrison.
Its two schools are below. Public schools: the Garrison 51 school district. 2 public schools serve Garrison, with 396 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Callies Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 225 | A− |
| Garrison High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 171 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ND on state tests and graduation
Garrison’s FEMA hazard score stands at 23 of 100, below both the North Dakota town median (40 of 100) and the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100). Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 33% come from cold waves and 30% from inland flooding. It has had 2 paid flood insurance claims since 2005.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Summer afternoons peak near 82° in July, and January nights bottom out around 2°; snowfall runs to about 43 inches a winter. Expect cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers in Garrison, with very little rain.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
For working residents in Garrison, the share who work locally is 26%. Jobs locally fell by 134 from 2013 to 2023, to 578. The town’s typical journey to work comes in at 21 minutes. Half the trips to work are shorter than 28 miles.
| Garrison | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 39% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 16 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.5% | 9.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The share of households in Garrison who live in a home they own: 81%. The typical home value locally is about $254,000, up 5.8% in a year, 13% below the North Dakota typical home.
| Garrison | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 81% | 57% | 73% |
| Median rent | $616 a month | $977 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Garrison's reported crime rate is well below North Dakota's. Its violent crime rate comes in at 1.4 per 1,000 residents. Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2023.
| Garrison | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 18.7 | 13.1 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 1.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.6 | 1.8 |
FBI crime data, 2023 · crimes reported to police
12% of adults report frequent mental distress in Garrison. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Garrison is ahead of North Dakota on 6 and behind on 10. Of the 24 North Dakota towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults who binge drink than Garrison.
| Garrison | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 31% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 80% | 73% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 22% | 16% |
| What stands out | Garrison | ND |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 16.7% | 21.3% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.6% | 5.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.4% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1.1 miles of trail. In Garrison, the trail network density is 0.8 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Garrison; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Garrison residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across North Dakota.
City in North Dakota, United States
Garrison is a city in McLean County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 1,462 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.