Best PlacesPhillips County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Phillips 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.
Phillips County ranks 1,032nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Phillips 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.
Phillips County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Phillips County ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 90% of counties
Where Phillips County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 3% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Phillips County
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Phillips County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,275, 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 Phillips County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 Phillips County
Phillips County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Phillips County.
Who works in Phillips County, and how
Work in Phillips County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Phillips County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Phillips County.
Is Phillips County growing, and who is moving in?
Phillips County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Logan County, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Phillips County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Phillips County, month by month
Phillips County sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 67° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 92° | 76° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 51° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Phillips County
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 96 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Phillips County
Schools across Phillips County average a D, better than 9% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Julesburg Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Haxtun Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Holyoke Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Julesburg High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Holyoke Senior High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Haxtun Jr/sr High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Phillips County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Phillips 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 Phillips County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Phillips County
Is Phillips County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Phillips County ranks 1,032nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, clean air, and what local pay buys, and lowest on tree cover and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Phillips County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $274,882. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $82,275 median income, cost of living beats 92% of counties.
Is Phillips County safe?
Phillips County is safer than 19% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $634 per resident a year.
Compare Phillips County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Phillips County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Phillips 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.
Phillips County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Phillips County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Phillips County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Phillips County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Phillips County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Phillips 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.