Best PlacesGarfield County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Garfield County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Garfield County ranks 1,053rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Garfield County
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.
The best areas in Garfield County
The parts of Garfield County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Glenwood Springs
Biking is better, streets are more walkable, and transit reaches more jobs.
Carbondale
Fewer households have young kids and homes cost more.
New Castle & Silt
Crime runs lower, though it is noisier.
Rifle
Fewer adults hold degrees and incomes run lower.
Battlement Mesa
Commutes are longer and local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Garfield County run from about the 7th to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Garfield County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Garfield County ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 166 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 95% of counties
- TransitBetter than 92% of counties
Where Garfield County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,321 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of counties
- Short commute31.4 minutes each way, better than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Garfield County
A household needs to earn about $148,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Garfield County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,769, 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 Garfield County's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 Garfield County
Garfield County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Garfield County.
Who works in Garfield County, and how
Work in Garfield County centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Garfield County
Garfield County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Garfield County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Garfield County growing, and who is moving in?
Garfield County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Garfield County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Garfield County, month by month
Garfield County sees roughly 166 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 25° | 13° |
| April | 67° | 49° | 32° |
| July | 95° | 75° | 56° |
| October | 69° | 49° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Garfield County
The nearest airport, Eagle County Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 155 miles away.
The best schools in and around Garfield County
Schools across Garfield County average a D+, better than 16% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Loma Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Sopris Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Ross Montessori SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carbondale Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Riverside SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Basalt Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Glenwood Springs High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Basalt High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Roaring Fork High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Garfield County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Garfield County 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 Garfield County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Garfield County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of counties and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Garfield County
Is Garfield County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Garfield County ranks 1,053rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on population health, heat safety, and the weather, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Garfield County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $596,389. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $93,769 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is Garfield County safe?
Garfield County is safer than 26% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $616 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Garfield County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 13. That works out to about 166 pleasant days a year, more than 96% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Garfield County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, and New Castle & Silt. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Garfield County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Garfield County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Garfield County 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.
Garfield County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Garfield County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Garfield County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Garfield County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Garfield County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Garfield County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.