Best PlacesBlack Forest, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Black Forest, 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.
Black Forest ranks 1,828th 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 Black Forest
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.
Black Forest's strengths and weaknesses
Where Black Forest ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$147,897 median, better than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
Where Black Forest ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,474 a month, better than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 18% of towns
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Black Forest
A household needs to earn about $205,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Black Forest home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $147,897, 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 Black Forest's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Black Forest
Black Forest runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Black Forest.
Who works in Black Forest, and how
Work in Black Forest centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Black Forest
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Black Forest.
What the weather is like in Black Forest, month by month
Black Forest sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 29° | 14° |
| April | 63° | 45° | 29° |
| July | 87° | 70° | 53° |
| October | 67° | 48° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Black Forest
The nearest airport, City of Colorado Springs Municipal, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Black Forest
Schools across Black Forest average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Discovery Canyon Campus Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Ray E Kilmer Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Edith Wolford Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Discovery Canyon Campus Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Lewis-palmer Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Falcon Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Discovery Canyon Campus High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Lewis-palmer High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Falcon High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Black Forest school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Black Forest 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 Black Forest against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Black Forest
Is Black Forest a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Black Forest ranks 1,828th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, few empty homes, and what local pay buys, 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 Black Forest expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $825,223. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $147,897 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Black Forest safe?
Black Forest is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $451 per resident a year.
Compare Black Forest with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Black Forest. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Black Forest 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.
Black Forest detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Black Forest: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Black Forest: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Black Forest: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Black Forest: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Black Forest 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.