Best PlacesCarbon County, WY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Carbon 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.
Carbon County ranks 755th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Carbon 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.
Carbon County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carbon County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 157 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- Short commute16.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of counties
Where Carbon County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Carbon County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carbon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,161, 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 Carbon County's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Carbon County
Carbon 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 Carbon County.
Who works in Carbon County, and how
Work in Carbon County centers on education and public administration. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Carbon County
Carbon County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of counties and more parkland per resident than 66% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Carbon County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Carbon County growing, and who is moving in?
Carbon County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Albany County, WY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Carbon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Carbon County, month by month
Carbon County sees roughly 157 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 41° | 26° |
| July | 89° | 71° | 50° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Carbon County
The nearest airport, Laramie Regional, is about 76 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 177 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carbon County
Schools across Carbon County average a C+, better than 49% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Uw Laboratory SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Desert ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Hanna ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rock River Junior High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Rawlins Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Craig Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Saratoga Middle/high SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Hem Junior/senior High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Rawlins High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carbon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carbon 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 Carbon County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Carbon County
Is Carbon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carbon County ranks 755th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, heat safety, and the weather, and lowest on thin health care access and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carbon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $233,717. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $79,161 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Carbon County safe?
Yes, Carbon County is safer than 58% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $322 per resident a year.
Compare Carbon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carbon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carbon 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.
Carbon County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carbon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carbon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carbon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carbon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carbon 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.