Best PlacesEmpire, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Empire, 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.
Empire ranks 44,922nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Empire
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.
Empire's strengths and weaknesses
Where Empire ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
Where Empire ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Empire
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Empire home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $68,932, 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 Empire's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Empire
Empire 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 Empire.
Who works in Empire, and how
Work in Empire centers on retail trade and arts & entertainment. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Empire
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Empire.
What the weather is like in Empire, month by month
Empire sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 55 degrees. January highs sit near 15, with lows near 4. No month averages between 55 and 75 degrees.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15° | 9° | 4° |
| April | 29° | 21° | 16° |
| July | 55° | 47° | 41° |
| October | 35° | 28° | 23° |
Flying in and out of Empire
Denver International sits about 55 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.1 million passengers in 2025, with 250 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Empire
Schools across Empire average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Granby Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- King-murphy Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Grand Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Clear Creek Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Middle Park High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Clear Creek High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Empire school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Empire 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 Empire against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Empire
Is Empire a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Empire ranks 44,922nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, transit, and a strong job market, and lowest on crime and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Empire expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $351,913. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $68,932 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Empire safe?
Empire is safer than 0% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,681 per resident a year.
Compare Empire with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Empire. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Empire 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.
Empire detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Empire: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Empire: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Empire: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Empire: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Empire 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.