Best PlacesJensen, UT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Jensen, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Jensen ranks 5,808th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Jensen
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.
Jensen's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jensen ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 160 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 92% of towns
Where Jensen ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Jensen
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jensen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,745, 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 Jensen's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 Jensen
Jensen runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Jensen.
Who works in Jensen, and how
Work in Jensen centers on transportation & warehousing and mining & oil & gas. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Jensen
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Jensen.
What the weather is like in Jensen, month by month
Jensen sees roughly 160 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 20° | 8° |
| April | 65° | 48° | 31° |
| July | 95° | 77° | 57° |
| October | 65° | 48° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Jensen
The nearest airport, Vernal Regional, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 140 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jensen
Schools across Jensen average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Davis SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Naples SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Parkview Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vernal MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Union HighC− · 30% proficient
- Rangely Junior/senior High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Uintah HighC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jensen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jensen 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 Jensen against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Jensen
Is Jensen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jensen ranks 5,808th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, the weather, and low disaster risk, and lowest on air quality and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jensen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $309,960. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $97,745 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Jensen safe?
Yes, Jensen is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $271 per resident a year.
Compare Jensen with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jensen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jensen 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.
Jensen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jensen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jensen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jensen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jensen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jensen 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.