RoletteND
A town of 462, settled in 1905.
Is Rolette a good place to live?
Rolette’s average commute is 36 minutes, above both the North Dakota town median (16 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). No town among the 24 in North Dakota we compare has a lower peak summer temperature than Rolette. Rolette has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
462 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Rolette: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rolette, 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 Rolette.
Very low risk in Rolette, with cold waves at the top
FEMA puts just over a third of Rolette’s expected hazard losses down to cold waves, and 33% to wildfires. On expected storm and flood damage, Rolette sits below 83% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Rolette households in 4 declared disasters; the latest was in 2009.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The schools Rolette’s kids attend
The public schools here belong to the Rolette 29 school district. Its two schools are below. 2 public schools serve Rolette, with 129 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rolette Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 78 | B− |
| Rolette High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 51 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts
More middle-aged adults than North Dakota overall
Adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (35% statewide); people 65 and older are 10% of residents (17% statewide). The share of adults 25 and older in Rolette who hold a bachelor’s degree or more is 43%, where North Dakota’s towns sit at 30% and U.S. towns at 29%. The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Rolette at 462 residents, down 4.5% since 2020. Its age of the median resident stands at 39.9 years.
| Rolette | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 30% | 29% |
| Median age | 39.9 years | 33.9 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
Somewhere between 43% and 65% women
The Census survey reached too few of Rolette’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±10.8 points. Across North Dakota, 48.8% of residents are women.
| Rolette | ND | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 18.7% | 13% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.3% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.8% | 11.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.5% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 4.4% | 13.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16% | 10.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 23.7% | 11.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 3.9% | 9.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.8% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.4% | 6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 13.3% | 25.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.7% | 21.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 18% | 14% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 39.5% | 23% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 3% | 9.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 500, single groups can be off by several points
In Rolette, a typical January night runs colder than in the typical North Dakota or U.S. town
The seasons in Rolette: cold, snowy winters, pleasant summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 79°, January nights drop to -5° and about 43 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
With 0.9 jobs for every working resident, most of Rolette’s workers commute out
The median commute is under 15 miles. Employers in Rolette shed 47 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 158. Only 18% of working residents stay in Rolette for work; the rest commute out. 5.3% of residents live below the poverty line locally.
| Rolette | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 39% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.3% | 9.8% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Crime reported in Rolette
10 crimes were reported in Rolette in 2022: 8 property and 2 violent. In a town this small, a few incidents move the numbers a lot, so rates aren't shown.
Rolette is small, so we show counts rather than rates.
FBI crime data, 2022 · crimes reported to police
Compared with most of North Dakota and the rest of the country, more of Rolette’s adults have diabetes
In Rolette, a fifth of adults smoke cigarettes. Of the 24 North Dakota towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Rolette.
| Rolette | North Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 8.9% | 12% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Rolette | ND |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 19.8% | 10.7% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 11.2% | 6.5% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 14.6% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Rolette
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Rolette; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Rolette residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across North Dakota.
About Rolette
City in North Dakota, United States
Rolette is a city in Rolette County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 484 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1905
- Area
- 1.0 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,627 ft
- ZIP code
- 58366
- Area code
- 701
Questions about Rolette
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rolette, ND a good place to live?
Rolette has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.