Best PlacesDurango, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Durango, 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.
Durango ranks 1,203rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Durango
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.
Durango's strengths and weaknesses
Where Durango ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of cities
- QuietBetter than 99% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- Short commute17.6 minutes each way, better than 95% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of cities
Where Durango ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Durango
A household needs to earn about $165,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Durango home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,160, 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 Durango's effective rate of 0.26%, 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 Durango
Durango's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Durango.
Who works in Durango, and how
Work in Durango centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Durango
Durango has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of cities and more parkland per resident than 99% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Durango and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Durango, month by month
Durango sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 24° | 9° |
| April | 65° | 47° | 27° |
| July | 90° | 71° | 52° |
| October | 68° | 49° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Durango
The nearest airport, Durango-La Plata County, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 170 miles away.
The best schools in and around Durango
Schools across Durango average a C+, better than 37% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Park Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Animas Valley Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Riverview Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mountain Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Miller Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Escalante Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Durango High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Animas High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Southwest Colorado EschoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Durango school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Durango 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 Durango against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Durango suits
Common questions about living in Durango
Is Durango a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Durango ranks 1,203rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, quiet, and heat safety, and lowest on internet speeds and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Durango expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $681,135. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $85,160 median income, cost of living beats 31% of cities.
Is Durango safe?
Durango is safer than 16% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $683 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Durango?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 9. That works out to about 147 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of cities.
Is Durango good for families?
Schools beat 37% of cities, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,181 a month.
Compare Durango with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Durango. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Durango 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.
Durango detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Durango: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Durango: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Durango: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Durango: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Durango 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.