Best PlacesMontrose, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Montrose, 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.
Montrose ranks 1,297th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Montrose
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.
Montrose's strengths and weaknesses
Where Montrose ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of cities
- QuietBetter than 93% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 174 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of cities
Where Montrose ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Montrose
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montrose home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,434, 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 Montrose'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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Montrose
Montrose 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 Montrose.
Who works in Montrose, and how
Work in Montrose 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 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Montrose
Montrose has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Montrose and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Montrose, month by month
Montrose sees roughly 174 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 27° | 15° |
| April | 67° | 50° | 34° |
| July | 92° | 75° | 58° |
| October | 68° | 50° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Montrose
The nearest airport, Montrose Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 196 miles away.
The best schools in and around Montrose
Schools across Montrose average a C−, better than 17% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Ridgway Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Cottonwood Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Oak Grove Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ridgway Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Columbine Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Centennial Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Montrose High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Ridgway High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Vista Charter SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montrose school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montrose 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 Montrose against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Montrose suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Montrose
Is Montrose a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montrose ranks 1,297th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low property taxes, and quiet, and lowest on distance from a big city and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Montrose expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $413,073. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $74,434 median income, cost of living beats 31% of cities.
Is Montrose safe?
Montrose is safer than 20% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $599 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Montrose?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 15. That works out to about 174 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of cities.
Is Montrose good for families?
Schools beat 17% of cities, crime safety beats 20%, and childcare runs $1,019 a month.
Compare Montrose with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montrose. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montrose 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.
Montrose detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montrose: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montrose: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montrose: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montrose: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montrose 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.