Best PlacesMontezuma County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Montezuma 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.
Montezuma County ranks 1,378th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Montezuma 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.
Montezuma County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Montezuma County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 163 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of counties
- QuietBetter than 82% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of counties
Where Montezuma County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 15% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Montezuma County
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montezuma County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,071, 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 Montezuma County's effective rate of 0.28%, 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 Montezuma County
Montezuma 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 Montezuma County.
Who works in Montezuma County, and how
Work in Montezuma 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 81%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Montezuma County
Montezuma County has more parkland per resident than 92% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Montezuma County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Montezuma County growing, and who is moving in?
Montezuma County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Montezuma County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Montezuma County, month by month
Montezuma County sees roughly 163 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 27° | 13° |
| April | 68° | 49° | 28° |
| July | 93° | 74° | 53° |
| October | 70° | 49° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Montezuma County
The nearest airport, Cortez Municipal, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around Montezuma County
Schools across Montezuma County average a D+, better than 15% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Kemper Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Dolores Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Lewis-arriola Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- C.v. Koogler MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Escalante Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Montezuma-cortez Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Southwest Colorado EschoolB− · 42% proficient
- Aztec HighC− · 30% proficient
- Montezuma-cortez High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montezuma County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montezuma 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 Montezuma County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Montezuma County suits
Common questions about living in Montezuma County
Is Montezuma County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montezuma County ranks 1,378th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, the weather, and civic engagement, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Montezuma County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $346,222. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $70,071 median income, cost of living beats 41% of counties.
Is Montezuma County safe?
Montezuma County is safer than 26% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $601 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Montezuma County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 13. That works out to about 163 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of counties.
Is Montezuma County good for families?
Schools beat 15% of counties, crime safety beats 26%, and childcare runs $890 a month.
Compare Montezuma County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montezuma County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montezuma 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.
Montezuma County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montezuma County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montezuma County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montezuma County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montezuma County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montezuma 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.