Best PlacesKiowa County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kiowa 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.
Kiowa County ranks 1,076th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kiowa 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.
Kiowa County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kiowa County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 96% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of counties
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 90% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 87% of counties
Where Kiowa County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of counties
- Household income$58,060 median, better than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kiowa County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kiowa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,060, 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 Kiowa County's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Kiowa County
Kiowa County 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 Kiowa County.
Who works in Kiowa County, and how
Work in Kiowa County centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Kiowa County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kiowa County.
Is Kiowa County growing, and who is moving in?
Kiowa County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Colorado Springs, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kiowa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kiowa County, month by month
Kiowa County sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 29° | 13° |
| April | 74° | 53° | 35° |
| July | 97° | 79° | 62° |
| October | 75° | 54° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Kiowa County
The nearest airport, Pueblo Memorial, is about 98 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kiowa County
Schools across Kiowa County average a B+, better than 87% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Eads Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eads Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Eads High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Plainview Junior-senior High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kiowa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kiowa 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 Kiowa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Kiowa County
Is Kiowa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kiowa County ranks 1,076th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kiowa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,656. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $58,060 median income, cost of living beats 41% of counties.
Is Kiowa County safe?
Kiowa County is safer than 30% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $539 per resident a year.
Compare Kiowa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kiowa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kiowa 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.
Kiowa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kiowa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kiowa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kiowa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kiowa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kiowa 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.