Best PlacesCripple Creek, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cripple Creek, 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.
Cripple Creek ranks 42,718th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cripple Creek
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.
Cripple Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cripple Creek ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of towns
- BikingBetter than 85% of towns
Where Cripple Creek ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cripple Creek
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cripple Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $57,576, 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 Cripple Creek's effective rate of 0.25%, 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 Cripple Creek
Cripple Creek 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 Cripple Creek.
Who works in Cripple Creek, and how
Work in Cripple Creek centers on education and arts & entertainment. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Cripple Creek
Cripple Creek has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Cripple Creek and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cripple Creek, month by month
Cripple Creek sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Cripple Creek
The nearest airport, City of Colorado Springs Municipal, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cripple Creek
Schools across Cripple Creek average a D, better than 7% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ute Pass Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Cresson Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Summit Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodland Park Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Manitou Springs Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- South Park Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Manitou Springs High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Woodland Park High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- South Park High SchoolC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cripple Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cripple Creek 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 Cripple Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cripple Creek
Is Cripple Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cripple Creek ranks 42,718th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, transit, and heat safety, and lowest on air quality and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cripple Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $316,611. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $57,576 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Cripple Creek safe?
Cripple Creek is safer than 9% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $853 per resident a year.
Compare Cripple Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cripple Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cripple Creek 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.
Cripple Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cripple Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cripple Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cripple Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cripple Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cripple Creek 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.