Best PlacesHamilton, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hamilton, 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.
Hamilton ranks 41,526th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hamilton
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.
Hamilton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hamilton ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 120 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Hamilton ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hamilton
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hamilton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $68,457, 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 Hamilton's effective rate of 0.31%, 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 Hamilton
Hamilton 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 Hamilton.
Who works in Hamilton, and how
Work in Hamilton centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hamilton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hamilton.
What the weather is like in Hamilton, month by month
Hamilton sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 16° | 2° |
| April | 61° | 43° | 25° |
| July | 92° | 70° | 47° |
| October | 64° | 43° | 26° |
Flying in and out of Hamilton
The nearest airport, Yampa Valley, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 159 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hamilton
Schools across Hamilton average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Meeker Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Ridgeview Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
- Hayden Valley Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Barone Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Soroco Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Craig Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Steamboat Springs High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Meeker High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Soroco High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hamilton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hamilton 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 Hamilton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hamilton
Is Hamilton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hamilton ranks 41,526th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, quiet, and heat safety, and lowest on air quality and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hamilton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $368,957. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $68,457 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Hamilton safe?
Hamilton is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $619 per resident a year.
Compare Hamilton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hamilton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hamilton 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.
Hamilton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hamilton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hamilton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hamilton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hamilton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hamilton 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.