Best PlacesMesa County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Mesa 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.
Mesa County ranks 1,044th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on low disaster risk and biking. The weaker spots are air quality, state finances, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Mesa 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 Mesa County
The parts of Mesa 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.
Redlands
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Fruita
Fewer homes sit empty and crime runs lower.
Orchard Mesa
More households have young kids, though health care is harder to reach.
Grand Junction
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Palisade
Commutes are longer and prices have run up more.
Clifton & Fruitvale
Homes cost less.
Mesa County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 12% of the country and others in the top 7%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Mesa County's strengths and weaknesses
Mesa County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low disaster risk is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Biking and the weather follow.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. State finances and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Mesa County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 157 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of counties
Where Mesa County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of counties
- Cheap childcare$974 a month, better than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Mesa County
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mesa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $79,356, 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 Mesa County'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 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 Mesa County
Mesa County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Mesa County.
Who works in Mesa County, and how
Work in Mesa County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Mesa County
Mesa County has more late-night spots per resident than 84% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Mesa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Mesa County growing, and who is moving in?
Mesa County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Mesa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Mesa County, month by month
Mesa County sees roughly 157 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 29° | 18° |
| April | 70° | 53° | 37° |
| July | 98° | 82° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 54° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Mesa County
The nearest airport, Grand Junction Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 213 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mesa County
Schools across Mesa County average a C−, better than 29% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- New Emerson School At ColumbusA · 68% proficient
- Wingate Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Scenic Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Redlands Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- West Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- East Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Fruita Monument High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Palisade High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Plateau Valley High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mesa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mesa 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 Mesa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Mesa County suits
Common questions about living in Mesa County
Is Mesa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mesa County ranks 1,044th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, biking, and the weather, and lowest on air quality and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mesa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $401,903. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $79,356 median income, cost of living beats 53% of counties.
Is Mesa County safe?
Mesa County is safer than 39% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $529 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mesa County?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 18. That works out to about 157 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Mesa County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Redlands, Fruita, and Orchard Mesa. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Mesa County good for families?
Schools beat 29% of counties, crime safety beats 39%, and childcare runs $974 a month.
Is Mesa County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 53% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 36% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Mesa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mesa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mesa 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.
Mesa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mesa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mesa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mesa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mesa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mesa 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.