Best PlacesMontrose County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Montrose 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.
Montrose County ranks 1,134th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Montrose 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.
Montrose County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Montrose County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 173 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
Where Montrose County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,015 a month, better than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Montrose County
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montrose County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,038, 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 County's effective rate of 0.37%, 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 County
Montrose 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 Montrose County.
Who works in Montrose County, and how
Work in Montrose County centers on health care & social and construction. 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 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Montrose County
Montrose County has more parkland per resident than 73% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Montrose County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Montrose County growing, and who is moving in?
Montrose 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 Montrose County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Montrose County, month by month
Montrose County sees roughly 173 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 County
The nearest airport, Montrose Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 198 miles away.
The best schools in and around Montrose County
Schools across Montrose County average a C−, better than 18% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- North Fork Montessori @ CrawfordB− · 40% proficient
- Cottonwood Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Oak Grove Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Columbine Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Nucla Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Centennial Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Montrose High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Nucla High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Vista Charter SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montrose County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montrose 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 Montrose County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Montrose County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Montrose County
Is Montrose County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montrose County ranks 1,134th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, the weather, and fast internet, 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 Montrose County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $392,331. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $72,038 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Montrose County safe?
Montrose County is safer than 27% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $586 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Montrose County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 15. That works out to about 173 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of counties.
Is Montrose County good for families?
Schools beat 18% of counties, crime safety beats 27%, and childcare runs $1,015 a month.
Compare Montrose County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montrose County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montrose 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.
Montrose County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montrose County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montrose County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montrose County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montrose County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montrose 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.