Best PlacesAlamosa County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Alamosa County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alamosa County ranks 1,519th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alamosa County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Alamosa County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alamosa County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 159 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of counties
- Short commute15.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of counties
Where Alamosa County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Alamosa County
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alamosa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $59,499, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Alamosa County's effective rate of 0.47%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alamosa County
Alamosa County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alamosa County.
Who works in Alamosa County, and how
Work in Alamosa County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Alamosa County
Alamosa County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Alamosa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Alamosa County growing, and who is moving in?
Alamosa County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Rio Grande County, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Alamosa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Alamosa County, month by month
Alamosa County sees roughly 159 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near -1. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 17° | -1° |
| April | 64° | 45° | 23° |
| July | 86° | 66° | 46° |
| October | 67° | 45° | 24° |
Flying in and out of Alamosa County
The nearest airport, San Luis Valley Regional/Bergman Field, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 174 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alamosa County
Schools across Alamosa County average a C, better than 33% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- La Jara Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Manassa Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Sangre De Cristo Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Centauri Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Ortega Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Sargent Junior High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Sargent Senior High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Alamosa High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Sanford Junior/senior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alamosa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alamosa County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Alamosa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Alamosa County
Is Alamosa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alamosa County ranks 1,519th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, the weather, and clean air, and lowest on thin health care access and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alamosa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $301,434. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $59,499 median income, cost of living beats 17% of counties.
Is Alamosa County safe?
Alamosa County is safer than 22% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $647 per resident a year.
Compare Alamosa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alamosa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alamosa County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Alamosa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alamosa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alamosa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alamosa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alamosa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alamosa County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.