Best PlacesCotopaxi, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cotopaxi, 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.
Cotopaxi ranks 45,030th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cotopaxi
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.
Cotopaxi's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cotopaxi ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of towns
Where Cotopaxi ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- Short commute41.2 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cotopaxi
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cotopaxi home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $51,072, 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 Cotopaxi's effective rate of 0.29%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi 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 Cotopaxi.
Who works in Cotopaxi, and how
Work in Cotopaxi centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Cotopaxi
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cotopaxi.
What the weather is like in Cotopaxi, month by month
Cotopaxi sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 29° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 46° | 32° |
| July | 85° | 68° | 54° |
| October | 66° | 49° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Cotopaxi
The nearest airport, City of Colorado Springs Municipal, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cotopaxi
Schools across Cotopaxi average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Canon Exploratory SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Lincoln School Of Science And TechnologyC+ · 38% proficient
- Cotopaxi Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crest AcademyA+ · 75% proficient
- Canon City Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Custer Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Salida High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Custer County High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Canon City High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cotopaxi school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cotopaxi 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 Cotopaxi against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cotopaxi
Is Cotopaxi a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cotopaxi ranks 45,030th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, a strong job market, and low property taxes, and lowest on air quality and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cotopaxi expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $343,541. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $51,072 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Cotopaxi safe?
Cotopaxi is safer than 33% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $559 per resident a year.
Compare Cotopaxi with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cotopaxi. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cotopaxi 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.
Cotopaxi detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cotopaxi: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cotopaxi: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cotopaxi: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cotopaxi: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cotopaxi 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.