Best PlacesChugwater, WY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chugwater, 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.
Chugwater ranks 22,140th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chugwater
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.
Chugwater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chugwater ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 131 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 78% of towns
Where Chugwater ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute35.7 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chugwater
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chugwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,249, 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 Chugwater's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chugwater
Chugwater 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 Chugwater.
Who works in Chugwater, and how
Work in Chugwater centers on real estate and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Chugwater
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Chugwater.
What the weather is like in Chugwater, month by month
Chugwater sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 47° | 32° |
| July | 94° | 75° | 58° |
| October | 68° | 50° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Chugwater
The nearest airport, Cheyenne Regional/Jerry Olson Field, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chugwater
Schools across Chugwater average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Wind ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
- Southeast ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Lagrange ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southeast Junior High SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Mccormick Junior High SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Wheatland Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Southeast High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Wheatland High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Pine Bluffs Jr & Sr High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chugwater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chugwater 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 Chugwater against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chugwater
Is Chugwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chugwater ranks 22,140th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, low property taxes, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chugwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $262,839. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $76,249 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is Chugwater safe?
Yes, Chugwater is safer than 65% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
Compare Chugwater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chugwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chugwater 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.
Chugwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chugwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chugwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chugwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chugwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chugwater 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.