Best PlacesAlbany County, WY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Albany County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Albany County ranks 341st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Albany 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.
Albany County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Albany County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
- BikingBetter than 98% of counties
Where Albany County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,116 a month, better than only 10% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Albany County
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Albany County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,042, 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 Albany County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Albany County
Albany County runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Albany County.
Who works in Albany County, and how
Work in Albany County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Albany County
Albany County has more parkland per resident than 79% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 95% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Albany County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Albany County growing, and who is moving in?
Albany County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Casper, WY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Albany County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Albany County, month by month
Albany County sees roughly 140 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 21° | 8° |
| April | 56° | 39° | 23° |
| July | 85° | 67° | 48° |
| October | 60° | 43° | 27° |
Flying in and out of Albany County
The nearest airport, Laramie Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Albany County
Schools across Albany County average a C+, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Snowy Range AcademyA · 72% proficient
- Uw Laboratory SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Beitel ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Laramie Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Rock River Junior High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Laramie High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Wheatland High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Rock River High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Albany County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Albany 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 Albany County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Albany County suits
Families
Schools land around the 45th percentile and crime safety beats 74%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Albany County
Is Albany County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Albany County ranks 341st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, heat safety, and low taxes, and lowest on thin health care access and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Albany County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $341,051. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $69,042 median income, cost of living beats 56% of counties.
Is Albany County safe?
Yes, Albany County is safer than 74% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $291 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Albany County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 8. That works out to about 140 pleasant days a year, more than 88% of counties.
Is Albany County good for families?
Schools beat 45% of counties, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $1,116 a month.
Compare Albany County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Albany County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Albany 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.
Albany County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Albany County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Albany County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Albany County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Albany County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Albany 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.