Best PlacesCottonwood Heights, UT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cottonwood Heights, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cottonwood Heights ranks 77th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cottonwood Heights
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.
Cottonwood Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Cottonwood Heights ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- BikingBetter than 92% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of cities
Where Cottonwood Heights ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 29% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 38% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 38% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 49% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Cottonwood Heights
A household needs to earn about $184,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cottonwood Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $128,436, 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 Cottonwood Heights' effective rate of 0.53%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cottonwood Heights
Cottonwood Heights's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cottonwood Heights.
Who works in Cottonwood Heights, and how
Work in Cottonwood Heights centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Cottonwood Heights
Cottonwood Heights has more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Cottonwood Heights and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cottonwood Heights, month by month
Cottonwood Heights sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 68° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Cottonwood Heights
Salt Lake City International sits about 14 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.4 million passengers in 2025, with 154 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Cottonwood Heights
Schools across Cottonwood Heights average an A−, better than 90% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Goldminer's DaughterA+ · 75% proficient
- Canyon View SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Butler SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Albion MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Butler MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Bonneville Jr HighB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Brighton HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Hillcrest HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Cottonwood HighC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cottonwood Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cottonwood Heights 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 Cottonwood Heights against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Cottonwood Heights suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 26% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 76% of cities and health care access beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Cottonwood Heights
Is Cottonwood Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cottonwood Heights ranks 77th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, biking, and low property taxes, and lowest on air quality and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cottonwood Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $732,366. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $128,436 median income, cost of living beats 84% of cities.
Is Cottonwood Heights safe?
Yes, Cottonwood Heights is safer than 94% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cottonwood Heights?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 25. That works out to about 132 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of cities.
Is Cottonwood Heights good for families?
Schools beat 90% of cities, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $929 a month.
Compare Cottonwood Heights with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cottonwood Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cottonwood Heights 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.
Cottonwood Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cottonwood Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cottonwood Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cottonwood Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cottonwood Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cottonwood Heights 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.