Best PlacesBoulder, UT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Boulder, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Boulder ranks 23,704th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Boulder
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.
Boulder's strengths and weaknesses
Where Boulder ranks high
- Short commute7.7 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 189 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 92% of towns
Where Boulder ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Boulder
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Boulder home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $66,061, 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 Boulder's effective rate of 0.33%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Boulder
Boulder 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 Boulder.
Who works in Boulder, and how
Work in Boulder centers on hospitality & food and arts & entertainment. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Boulder
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Boulder.
What the weather is like in Boulder, month by month
Boulder sees roughly 189 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 90° | 77° | 64° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Boulder
The nearest airport, Page Municipal, is about 68 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 201 miles away.
The best schools in and around Boulder
Schools across Boulder average a B−, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Boulder SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Panguitch MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Panguitch HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Boulder school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Boulder 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 Boulder against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Boulder
Is Boulder a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Boulder ranks 23,704th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, the weather, and quiet, and lowest on distance from a big city and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Boulder expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $374,200. The overall cost of living runs about 13% above the national average. Set against a $66,061 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Boulder safe?
Boulder is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $539 per resident a year.
Compare Boulder with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Boulder. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Boulder 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.
Boulder detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Boulder: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Boulder: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Boulder: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Boulder: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Boulder 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.