Best PlacesColorado Springs, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Colorado Springs metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Xnatedawgx, CC BY-SA 3.0, via commons
Colorado Springs ranks 99th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $101,634, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are air quality, state finances, and childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in the Colorado Springs metro
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.
The best areas in Colorado Springs
The towns and districts of the Colorado Springs metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Peyton, Elbert & Black Forest
Local pay stretches further, more households have young kids, and incomes run higher.
Woodland Park, Monument & Woodmoor
More residents vote and schools score higher.
Cimarron Hills
Crime runs lower, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Security-Widefield & Fountain
Biking is worse and health care is harder to reach.
Downtown Colorado Springs
Streets are more walkable and transit reaches more jobs.
Manitou Springs
More homes sit empty and it is noisier.
Fort Carson & Stratmoor
Commutes are shorter.
Colorado Springs shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Colorado Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Colorado Springs lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Heat safety is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Few empty homes and low property taxes follow.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. State finances and childcare costs also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Colorado Springs ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of metro areas
Where Colorado Springs ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$1,462 a month, better than only 6% of metro areas
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of metro areas
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Colorado Springs
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Colorado Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,634, 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 Colorado Springs' effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Colorado Springs.
Who works in Colorado Springs, and how
Work in Colorado Springs centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Colorado Springs and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Colorado Springs growing, and who is moving in?
Colorado Springs has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Colorado Springs go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Colorado Springs, month by month
Colorado Springs sees roughly 111 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 Colorado Springs
The nearest airport, City of Colorado Springs Municipal, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Colorado Springs
Schools across Colorado Springs average a C, better than 29% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Cheyenne Mountain Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Journey K8A+ · 75% proficient
- Chinook Trail Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cheyenne Mountain Junior High SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Discovery Canyon Campus Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Challenger Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Pikes Peak Early CollegeA · 75% proficient
- Cheyenne Mountain High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- The Classical Academy High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Colorado Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Colorado Springs 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 Colorado Springs against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Colorado Springs suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of metro areas, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Colorado Springs
Is Colorado Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Colorado Springs ranks 99th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on heat safety, few empty homes, and low property taxes, and lowest on air quality and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Colorado Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $483,681. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $101,634 median income, cost of living beats 92% of metro areas.
Is Colorado Springs safe?
Colorado Springs is safer than 49% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $486 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Colorado Springs?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 14. That works out to about 111 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Colorado Springs?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Peyton, Elbert & Black Forest, Woodland Park, Monument & Woodmoor, and Cimarron Hills. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Colorado Springs good for families?
Schools beat 29% of metro areas, crime safety beats 49%, and childcare runs $1,462 a month.
Is Colorado Springs good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of metro areas. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare Colorado Springs with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Colorado Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Colorado Springs 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.
Colorado Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Colorado Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Colorado Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Colorado Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Colorado Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Colorado Springs 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.