Fargo, North Dakota

It's a tough call between the highly educated workforce and excellent schools and the amazing health care. Those two qualities are the most cited characteristics locals note for things they think are great about the city. North Dakota State and four other colleges/universities are all in the Fargo area, a city just north of 100k people. As a result, the rate of higher ed among the population is extremely high for a smaller city. Sanford Health, the largest, rural, not-for-profit health-care system in the U.S., is here, and it has a trauma center, newborn/pediatric intensive care services, and women’s, orthopedics, heart, and cancer centers. Sanford also has an excellent Children’s Hospital, so locals have amazing care throughout their lives.

Growth is controversial to locals. Many have benefitted from that economic and population growth and love that the downtown area has become more vibrant supported by the newbies. Many locals also though decry the traffic, extra crime and "out-of-state attitudes" that have moved into what was at one point a fairly homogenous place. So, depending on your point of view, growth may be the best thing to have happened to Macon or the worst.

Fargo has a ton going on for a small city. There is an active theater scene with several community and college groups. There’s live music, comedy clubs, museums, and plenty of adult sport and clubs to join for those looking to enjoy a passion or just hang/meet with new friends. There is also an excellent restaurant scene and tons of microbrewery and bar options for a night out. Not surprisingly, it is also extremely family friendly with tons of parks and outdoor play options for you and the kiddos.

To see what locals get up to for fun in Fargo, check out the calendar of events.

We highly recommend visiting Fargo and staying in the community in a VRBO rather than a hotel to get a feel for what it's like to live among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our partnership with Expedia as well.

If you can get over the winter the quality of life here is excellent. The cost of living is very low and the job opportunities are solid for a small city. You can live, raise a family and make it all work with much less stress than so many other comparable places.