Best PlacesLa Plata County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in La Plata County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
La Plata County ranks 912th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in La Plata 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.
The best areas in La Plata County
The parts of La Plata County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Bayfield
Durango
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Ignacio
Fewer adults hold degrees and biking is worse.
Scores across La Plata County run from about the 11th to the 84th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
La Plata County's strengths and weaknesses
Where La Plata County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of counties
Where La Plata County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,181 a month, better than only 9% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in La Plata County
A household needs to earn about $145,000 a year to comfortably buy the median La Plata County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,145, 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 La Plata County's effective rate of 0.27%, 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 La Plata County
La Plata 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 La Plata County.
Who works in La Plata County, and how
Work in La Plata County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in La Plata County
La Plata County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of counties and more parkland per resident than 97% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of La Plata County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is La Plata County growing, and who is moving in?
La Plata County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Garfield County, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving La Plata County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in La Plata County, month by month
La Plata County sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 24° | 9° |
| April | 65° | 47° | 27° |
| July | 90° | 71° | 52° |
| October | 68° | 49° | 30° |
Flying in and out of La Plata County
The nearest airport, Durango-La Plata County, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around La Plata County
Schools across La Plata County average a C, better than 37% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Park Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Animas Valley Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Riverview Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mountain Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Miller Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Escalante Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Durango High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Animas High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Southwest Colorado EschoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every La Plata County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
La Plata 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 La Plata County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who La Plata County suits
Common questions about living in La Plata County
Is La Plata County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, La Plata County ranks 912th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, heat safety, and an educated workforce, and lowest on air quality and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is La Plata County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $599,939. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $88,145 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is La Plata County safe?
La Plata County is safer than 27% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $619 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in La Plata County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 9. That works out to about 147 pleasant days a year, more than 91% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in La Plata County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bayfield, Durango, and Ignacio. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare La Plata County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to La Plata County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in La Plata 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.
La Plata County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for La Plata County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in La Plata County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of La Plata County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in La Plata County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
La Plata 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.