Best PlacesElko, NV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elko, 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.
Elko ranks 36,196th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Elko
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.
Elko's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elko ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
Where Elko ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elko
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elko home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,098, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Elko's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elko
Elko runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elko.
Who works in Elko, and how
Work in Elko centers on mining & oil & gas and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Elko
Elko has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns and more parkland per resident than 83% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Elko and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elko, month by month
Elko sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 47° | 30° |
| July | 96° | 76° | 53° |
| October | 69° | 48° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Elko
The nearest airport, Elko Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elko
Schools across Elko average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mountain View Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Grammar School 2B− · 43% proficient
- Northside Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spring Creek Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Adobe Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Wells Jr High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Spring Creek High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Wells High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Elko High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elko school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elko 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 Elko against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Elko suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 4% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Elko
Is Elko a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elko ranks 36,196th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, walkability, and state finances, and lowest on disaster risk and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elko expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $278,634. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $88,098 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Elko safe?
Elko is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $943 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elko?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 18. That works out to about 129 pleasant days a year, more than 85% of towns.
Is Elko good for families?
Schools beat 24% of towns, crime safety beats 4%, and childcare runs $784 a month.
Compare Elko with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elko. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elko 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.
Elko detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elko: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elko: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elko: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elko: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elko 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.