Best PlacesDinosaur, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dinosaur, 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.
Dinosaur ranks 45,664th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dinosaur
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.
Dinosaur's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dinosaur ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 162 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 69% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 64% of towns
Where Dinosaur ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dinosaur
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dinosaur home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,611, 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 Dinosaur's effective rate of 0.34%, 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 Dinosaur
Dinosaur's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dinosaur.
Who works in Dinosaur, and how
Work in Dinosaur centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Dinosaur
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dinosaur.
What the weather is like in Dinosaur, month by month
Dinosaur sees roughly 162 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 63° |
| October | 63° | 49° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Dinosaur
The nearest airport, Vernal Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dinosaur
Schools across Dinosaur average a C, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Meeker Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Davis SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Parkview Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Barone Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Vernal MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Craig Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Meeker High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Rangely Junior/senior High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Moffat County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dinosaur school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dinosaur 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 Dinosaur against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dinosaur
Is Dinosaur a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dinosaur ranks 45,664th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and low property taxes, and lowest on internet speeds and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dinosaur expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $318,682. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $65,611 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is Dinosaur safe?
Dinosaur is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $986 per resident a year.
Compare Dinosaur with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dinosaur. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dinosaur 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.
Dinosaur detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dinosaur: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dinosaur: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dinosaur: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dinosaur: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dinosaur 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.