Best PlacesAlva, WY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alva, 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.
Alva ranks 25,178th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alva
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.
Alva's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alva ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 82% of towns
Where Alva ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Alva
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alva home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,696, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Alva'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 Alva
Alva's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alva.
Who works in Alva, and how
Work in Alva centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Alva
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Alva.
What the weather is like in Alva, month by month
Alva sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 33° |
| July | 86° | 72° | 59° |
| October | 60° | 46° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Alva
The nearest airport, Northeast Wyoming Regional, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 334 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alva
Schools across Alva average a B, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sundance ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alva school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alva 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 Alva against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Alva
Is Alva a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alva ranks 25,178th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, heat safety, and a strong job market, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alva expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $268,592. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $76,696 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Alva safe?
Yes, Alva is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
Compare Alva with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alva. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alva 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.
Alva detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alva: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alva: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alva: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alva: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alva 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.