Best PlacesGunnison County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gunnison County, 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.
Gunnison County ranks 1,335th 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 Gunnison 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.
Gunnison County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gunnison County ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
Where Gunnison County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,128 a month, better than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gunnison County
A household needs to earn about $159,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gunnison County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,711, 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 Gunnison County's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 Gunnison County
Gunnison County'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 Gunnison County.
Who works in Gunnison County, and how
Work in Gunnison County centers on education and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 22%
Life in Gunnison County
Gunnison County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of counties and more parkland per resident than 74% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gunnison County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gunnison County growing, and who is moving in?
Gunnison 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 Gunnison County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gunnison County, month by month
Gunnison County sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near -3. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 10° | -3° |
| April | 57° | 40° | 25° |
| July | 82° | 64° | 47° |
| October | 62° | 42° | 24° |
Flying in and out of Gunnison County
The nearest airport, Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gunnison County
Schools across Gunnison County average a C−, better than 23% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Paonia K-8B+ · 55% proficient
- Crested Butte Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Aspen Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gunnison Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Centennial Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Crested Butte Secondary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Montrose High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Gunnison High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gunnison County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gunnison 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 Gunnison County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Gunnison County
Is Gunnison County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gunnison County ranks 1,335th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on population health, low disaster risk, and heat safety, and lowest on an overheated housing market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gunnison County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $651,601. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $82,711 median income, cost of living beats 33% of counties.
Is Gunnison County safe?
Gunnison County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $955 per resident a year.
Compare Gunnison County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gunnison County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gunnison 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.
Gunnison County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gunnison County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gunnison County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gunnison County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gunnison County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gunnison 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.