Best PlacesLa Junta, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around La Junta, 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.
La Junta ranks 30,201st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in La Junta
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.
La Junta's strengths and weaknesses
Where La Junta ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
Where La Junta ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in La Junta
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median La Junta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,050, 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 La Junta's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 La Junta
La Junta 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 La Junta.
Who works in La Junta, and how
Work in La Junta centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in La Junta
La Junta has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns and more parkland per resident than 91% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of La Junta and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in La Junta, month by month
La Junta sees roughly 145 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 31° | 16° |
| April | 74° | 54° | 36° |
| July | 97° | 79° | 63° |
| October | 75° | 55° | 38° |
Flying in and out of La Junta
The nearest airport, Pueblo Memorial, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 144 miles away.
The best schools in and around La Junta
Schools across La Junta average a D−, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kim Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Swink Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Mcclave Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Las Animas Junior High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Swink Junior-senior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Mcclave Undivided High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Las Animas High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every La Junta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
La Junta 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 La Junta against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in La Junta
Is La Junta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, La Junta ranks 30,201st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, clean air, and walkability, and lowest on thin health care access and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is La Junta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,194. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $59,050 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is La Junta safe?
La Junta is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $721 per resident a year.
Compare La Junta with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to La Junta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in La Junta 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.
La Junta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for La Junta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in La Junta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of La Junta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in La Junta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
La Junta 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.