Best PlacesArchuleta County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Archuleta 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.
Archuleta County ranks 1,371st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Archuleta 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.
Archuleta County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Archuleta County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 167 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of counties
Where Archuleta County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Archuleta County
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Archuleta County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $83,468, 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 Archuleta County's effective rate of 0.34%, 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 Archuleta County
Archuleta County 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 Archuleta County.
Who works in Archuleta County, and how
Work in Archuleta County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Archuleta County
Archuleta County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Archuleta County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Archuleta County growing, and who is moving in?
Archuleta County has grown about 15% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Archuleta County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Archuleta County, month by month
Archuleta County sees roughly 167 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 25° | 13° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 29° |
| July | 84° | 67° | 51° |
| October | 63° | 47° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Archuleta County
The nearest airport, Durango-La Plata County, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Archuleta County
Schools across Archuleta County average a D+, better than 18% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bayfield Intermediate SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Pagosa Peak Open SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Pagosa Springs Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bayfield Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Pagosa Springs Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Ignacio Middle SchoolF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Pagosa Springs High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Bayfield High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- San Juan Mountain SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Archuleta County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Archuleta 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 Archuleta County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Archuleta County
Is Archuleta County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Archuleta County ranks 1,371st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, the weather, and heat safety, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Archuleta County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $486,248. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $83,468 median income, cost of living beats 67% of counties.
Is Archuleta County safe?
Archuleta County is safer than 30% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $576 per resident a year.
Compare Archuleta County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Archuleta County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Archuleta 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.
Archuleta County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Archuleta County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Archuleta County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Archuleta County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Archuleta County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Archuleta 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.