Living in Turtle Lake, ND
Turtle Lake is a tiny town of 500 people in McLean County, North Dakota. It's about 49 miles from Bismarck, ND and 405 miles from Minneapolis, MN, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 83°F and winter highs 20°F, with about 44 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $120k and rent runs about $779 a month.
500people
$120kTypical home
$779/moRent
83° / 20°Summer / winter
44"Snow
238Sunny days
65Rain/snow days
Is Turtle Lake right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Tiny town of 500
- A standalone small town, not a suburb
- About 977 people per sq mi
- 405 mi to Minneapolis, MN
- 49 mi to Bismarck, ND
- 48 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $120k (≈$757/mo)
- Median rent $779/mo
- Median household income $68k
- Property tax about 0.9% of value
- 1.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 83°F
- Winter highs around 20°F
- Comfortable summers (dew point 53°F)
- 238 sunny days a year (68 totally clear)
- 127 cloudy days a year
- 37 of 90 winter days are gray
- 65 days a year with rain or snow
- 44" of snow a year
- 12 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 77 nights a year below 10°F
- Windier than most places
People
- Median age 50
- 26% of households have kids
- 26% are 65 or older
- 24% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 2% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 26 min
- 10% walk or take transit to work
- 52 mi to BIS airport
- 409 mi to MSP (major hub)
- 242 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 86% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1971
- 82% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 1,870 ft
- 731 mi to the ocean
- 11 mi to a big lake
- 25 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 62 mi to the nearest ski area
- 17 mi to the nearest campground
- 5 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 3 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- Few or no bars within 25 mi
- Few or no coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 3 museums within 25 mi
- No breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 50 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 40% of North Dakota districts (reading)
- 21 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 2 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 50 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 49 mi to the nearest vet
- 46 mi to the nearest dog park
- 21 congregations per 10k people
- 54 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- McLean County: R+58 in 2024
- North Dakota: R+37 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Moderate tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Very low flood risk
- Low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Very low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk