Is Northwood a good place to live?
Of the 21 North Dakota towns we compare, none has a lower midpoint rent than Northwood. Martin V. Linwell House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Northwood has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
959 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Northwood: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Northwood, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Northwood.
Northwood has a low natural-hazard risk, chiefly from cold waves
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 80% of U.S. communities. Households in Northwood have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2019. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 40% come from cold waves and 25% from inland flooding.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The schools Northwood’s kids attend
Its two schools are below. The Northwood 129 school district runs its public schools. Public school enrollment in the town: 337 students across 2 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwood Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 177 | A− |
| Northwood High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 160 | B |
NCES · EDFacts
More children than North Dakota overall
The midpoint age for Northwood comes to 33.5 years. Children under 18 are just over a third of residents (24% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (25% statewide). Also worth knowing: the share of residents in Northwood who are 65 or older is 20%, against 13% in North Dakota’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. 959 people lived in Northwood by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate, 2% fewer than in 2020.
| Northwood | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 13% | 18% |
| Median age | 33.5 years | 33.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 30% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6.5 points. Across North Dakota, 48.8% of residents are women.
| Northwood | ND | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 23.6% | 13% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.7% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 11.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.4% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.7% | 13.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.6% | 10.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 7.7% | 11.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 5% | 9.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 15.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.2% | 6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.4% | 25.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.1% | 21.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.5% | 14% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.5% | 23% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.3% | 9.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,000, single groups can be off by several points
The climate in Northwood brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
Northwood’s peak summer temperature is 81°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in three working residents works right in Northwood
Northwood’s mean commuting time is 14 minutes, below both the North Dakota town median (16 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Jobs locally fell by 48 from 2013 to 2023, to 385. Among working residents in the town, 34% work locally. The top destinations are Grand Forks (22%), Fargo (7%) and East Grand Forks (3%).
| Northwood | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 16 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 34% | 39% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.7% | 9.8% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Crime reported in Northwood
In a town this small, a few incidents move the numbers a lot, so rates aren't shown.
Northwood is small, so we show counts rather than rates.
FBI crime data, 2023 · crimes reported to police
How healthy Northwood is
Among adults in Northwood, 20% binge drink and 30% sleep under 7 hours. The town does better than the North Dakota average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 6. No town among the 24 in North Dakota we compare has a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than Northwood. In Northwood, 13% of adults report frequent mental distress.
| Northwood | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 22% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 29% | 33% |
| What stands out | Northwood | ND |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8% | 10.7% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.7% | 8.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.2% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes in Northwood are worth about $262K, by Zillow’s estimate
Northwood: 64% of households are owner-occupiers. In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 12%.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Northwood
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Northwood; the nearest are
About 8 of every 100 Northwood residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Dakota.
About Northwood
City in North Dakota, United States
Northwood is a city in Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. It is part of the "Grand Forks, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area" or "Greater Grand Forks." The population was 982 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1884
- Area
- 1.3 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,115 ft
- ZIP code
- 58267
- Area code
- 701
Questions about Northwood
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Northwood, ND a good place to live?
Northwood has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.