Best PlacesPalo Park, Boulder, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palo Park, Boulder, 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.
Palo Park, Boulder ranks 1,961st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Palo Park, Boulder
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.
Palo Park, Boulder's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palo Park, Boulder ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
Where Palo Park, Boulder ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,834 a month, better than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Palo Park, Boulder
A household needs to earn about $238,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palo Park, Boulder home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $112,738, 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 Palo Park, Boulder's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Palo Park, Boulder
Palo Park, Boulder 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 Palo Park, Boulder.
Who works in Palo Park, Boulder, and how
Work in Palo Park, Boulder centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 45%
- Work from home 48%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Palo Park, Boulder
Palo Park, Boulder has more parkland per resident than 92% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Palo Park, Boulder and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Palo Park, Boulder, month by month
Palo Park, Boulder sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 64° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 90° | 75° | 61° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Palo Park, Boulder
Denver International sits about 33 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.1 million passengers in 2025, with 250 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Palo Park, Boulder
Schools across Palo Park, Boulder average a B−, better than 59% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Pioneer Bilingual Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Centennial Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- New Vista High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palo Park, Boulder school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palo Park, Boulder 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 Palo Park, Boulder against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Palo Park, Boulder
Is Palo Park, Boulder a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palo Park, Boulder ranks 1,961st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on civic engagement, few empty homes, and heat safety, and lowest on cell coverage and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palo Park, Boulder expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $952,963. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $112,738 median income, cost of living beats 73% of neighborhoods.
Is Palo Park, Boulder safe?
Yes, Palo Park, Boulder is safer than 60% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $551 per resident a year.
Compare Palo Park, Boulder with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palo Park, Boulder. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palo Park, Boulder 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.
Palo Park, Boulder detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palo Park, Boulder: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palo Park, Boulder: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palo Park, Boulder: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palo Park, Boulder: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palo Park, Boulder 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.