Best PlacesOtero County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Otero County, 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.
Otero County ranks 2,267th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Otero 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.
Otero County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Otero County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 145 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of counties
- TransitBetter than 85% of counties
Where Otero County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 5% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Otero County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Otero County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,268, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Otero 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Otero County
Otero 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 Otero County.
Who works in Otero County, and how
Work in Otero County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Otero County
Otero County has more parkland per resident than 66% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Otero County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Otero County growing, and who is moving in?
Otero County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pueblo, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Otero County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Otero County, month by month
Otero County sees roughly 145 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 31° | 16° |
| April | 74° | 54° | 36° |
| July | 97° | 79° | 63° |
| October | 75° | 55° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Otero County
The nearest airport, Pueblo Memorial, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Otero County
Schools across Otero County average a D, better than 6% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Swink Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Jefferson Intermediate SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Fowler Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fowler Junior High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Swink Junior-senior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Fowler High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Rocky Ford Junior/senior High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Otero County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Otero 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 Otero County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Otero County
Is Otero County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Otero County ranks 2,267th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low property taxes, and cell coverage, and lowest on thin health care access and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Otero County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,079. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $58,268 median income, cost of living beats 28% of counties.
Is Otero County safe?
Otero County is safer than 14% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $719 per resident a year.
Compare Otero County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Otero County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Otero 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.
Otero County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Otero County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Otero County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Otero County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Otero County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Otero 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.