Feature Capital Communities for the Family: 108
By Kim Babij-Gesell It’s a pretty good gig these days, being Mayor of Bottineau, North Dakota. Holding the post since mid-2012, Ben Aufforth has watched his city of 2,200 citizens flourish over the past number of years. A self-proclaimed four season playground, Bottineau has seen construction of new houses, duplexes, townhouses and apartments, the emergence of a new hotel, and the continued vibrancy of a thriving business district. And as if that isn’t enough, the icing on the cake was being named one of the Top 10 cities in North Dakota for young families by finance company NerdWallet. “It’s awesome; any kind of recognition like that is great,” says Aufforth. “I think it goes to show we know what we’re doing out here, too. But, definitely, seeing it in print is nice.” NerdWallet released its Top 10 list in December 2013, based on a study which aimed to find the North Dakota communities with the best financial mix for young families looking to move to the state. The study was a data driven comparison of the cities in North Dakota, looking at three main factors. The first factor was schools: NerdWallet used a national, non-profit education evaluator called GreatSchools for their information. A number between one and 10 compares the schools to the state average. The second factor was affordability, where they looked at the cost of living in the city and the typical salary there, and the third factor was growth. NerdWallet looked at the average household income and income Raising Your Kids in the Oil Patch growth over the last decade; a higher income and a higher growth would lead to a higher overall score. Thirty-four North Dakota cities and areas designated as “places” by the U.S. Census were included in the analysis, and only places with a population greater than 1,500 were considered. Once they began compiling their research, NerdWallet Senior Analyst Divya Raghavan says they discovered something they didn’t necessarily expect: on a whole, North Dakota is quietly exploding, more than just about anywhere in the United States. “We’ve been doing this for all the states,” says Raghavan. “We found that most states, most cities don’t have a growth rate like this. Most cities have a growth rate between five and 20 percent, so these growth rates in North Dakota are well above the average.” What exactly are those above-average growth rates? Take the city atop the North Dakota list, Horace. It boasts an incredible 95.8 percent growth rate. But Horace certainly isn’t alone. Raghavan says their data showed the top three cities on the list—Horace, Watford City and Stanley—all have a growth rate above 95 percent. The reason Horace was ultimately named the best city for young families is because it’s so well-rounded. “For reference for those who don’t know, Horace is near Fargo. It got such a high ranking because it did well in all of the three main factors we’re looking at. Firstly, Horace’s schools have a rating of nine out of 10 from GreatSchools, which was the highest on our list. Next, it’s more expensive, with higher median home values, but there’s also a higher median income in that city,” says Raghavan. The list of Top 10 cities in North Dakota for young families looks like this: 1. Horace; 2. Watford City; 3. Stanley; 4. Carrington; 5. Rugby; 6. Harvey; 7. Oakes; 8. Valley City; 9. Bottineau; and 10. Beulah. Beyond the Top 10, the next five cities include Dickinson, Jamestown, Bowman, Grafton and Hazen. Raghavan says the growth in the state is interesting, not only because it’s going so quickly, but because it has been happening on its own. “North Dakota has had a recent economic boom because of oil. But we found that a lot of these cities were not affected by that 109