North Dakota · NCES CCD 2024-25

Best School Districts in North Dakota

Top 35 districts ranked by average school quality score, based on student-teacher ratios, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance.

35
Districts ranked
91,137
Students enrolled
45/100
Avg quality score
C
Top grade

The ranking in one line

Grafton 18 in Grafton leads North Dakota's districts with an average school quality score of 59.7/100 across 3 schools.

59.7/100
top district score (grade C)
3
schools in Grafton 18
949
students in the top district
45/100
average across the top 35
# District GradeAvg Quality
1 Grafton 18 Grafton C 59.7
2 Jamestown 1 Jamestown C 57.3
3 Northern Cass 97 Hunter C 56.7
4 Hillsboro 9 Hillsboro C 56
5 South Prairie 70 Minot C- 54.5
6 Thompson 61 Thompson C- 53
7 Kindred 2 Kindred C- 52
8 Grand Forks 1 Grand Forks D 48.2
9 West Fargo 6 West Fargo D 47.7
10 Valley City 2 Valley City D 47.3
11 Lisbon 19 Lisbon D 47
12 Nedrose 4 Minot D 47
13 Fargo 1 Fargo D 46.5
14 May-Port Cg 14 Mayville D 46.3
15 Central Cass 17 Casselton D 46
16 Rugby 5 Rugby D 46
17 Killdeer 16 Killdeer D 45.5
18 Bismarck 1 Bismarck D 45.2
19 New Town 1 New Town D 44
20 Bottineau 1 Bottineau D 44
21 Mckenzie Co 1 Watford City D 43
22 Dickinson 1 Dickinson D 42.3
23 Beulah 27 Beulah D 42
24 Carrington 49 Carrington D 41.5
25 Hazen 3 Hazen D 41.3
26 Devils Lake 1 Devils Lake D 41.2
27 Tioga 15 Tioga D 40.5
28 Minot 1 Minot D 40.4
29 United 7 Des Lacs F 39
30 Wahpeton 37 Wahpeton F 37.8
31 Williston Basin 7 Williston F 35.8
32 Belcourt 7 Belcourt F 35.3
33 Dunseith 1 Dunseith F 35
34 Stanley 2 Stanley F 31
35 Mandan 1 Mandan F 26.9

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best school districts in North Dakota? ▼

The top-ranked district in North Dakota is Grafton 18 in Grafton with 949 students across 3 schools. Average quality score: 59.7/100. Rankings are based on average school quality scores from NCES data.

How are district rankings calculated? ▼

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be ranked.

How many school districts are in North Dakota? ▼

North Dakota has 35+ school districts serving 118,286 students. The statewide average student-teacher ratio is 11.7:1.

Explore More for North Dakota

All Schools → Best Schools → Highest Spending → Funding Equity → Absenteeism Data →

Methodology

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 metrics: student-teacher ratio, school counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism rates. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be included. This measures school-level resources, not test scores. Higher average scores indicate districts where schools generally have smaller classes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.