Best PlacesAlma, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alma, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alma ranks 29,405th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alma
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.
Alma's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alma ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
Where Alma ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,503 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Alma
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $108,142, 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 Alma's effective rate of 0.35%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alma
Alma runs older 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 Alma.
Who works in Alma, and how
Work in Alma centers on manufacturing and arts & entertainment. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Alma
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Alma.
What the weather is like in Alma, month by month
Alma sees roughly 110 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 67 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 18° | 13° |
| April | 38° | 30° | 25° |
| July | 67° | 57° | 50° |
| October | 46° | 37° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Alma
The nearest airport, Aspen-Pitkin County/Sardy Field, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alma
Schools across Alma average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Edith Teter Elementary SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Park Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- South Park High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Lake County High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alma school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alma 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 Alma against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Alma
Is Alma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alma ranks 29,405th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, population health, and low disaster risk, and lowest on air quality and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $506,892. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $108,142 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Alma safe?
Alma is safer than 10% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $764 per resident a year.
Compare Alma with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alma 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.
Alma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alma 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.
- 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.