Best PlacesNutria, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nutria, 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.
Nutria ranks 20,553rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nutria
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.
Nutria's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nutria ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 168 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of towns
Where Nutria ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nutria
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nutria home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $89,022; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Nutria's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 Nutria
Nutria runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Nutria.
Who works in Nutria, and how
Work in Nutria centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Nutria
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nutria.
What the weather is like in Nutria, month by month
Nutria sees roughly 168 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 25° | 13° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 29° |
| July | 84° | 67° | 51° |
| October | 63° | 47° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Nutria
The nearest airport, Durango-La Plata County, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 155 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nutria
Schools across Nutria average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pagosa Springs Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pagosa Springs Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Pagosa Springs High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nutria school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nutria 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 Nutria against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nutria
Is Nutria a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nutria ranks 20,553rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, heat safety, and low property taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nutria expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $400,998. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $89,022 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Nutria safe?
Nutria is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $552 per resident a year.
Compare Nutria with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nutria. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nutria 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.
Nutria detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nutria: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nutria: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nutria: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nutria: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nutria 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.