Best PlacesPikes Peak, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pikes Peak, 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.
Pikes Peak ranks 14,744th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pikes Peak
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.
Pikes Peak's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pikes Peak ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
Where Pikes Peak ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute33.1 minutes each way, better than only 20% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pikes Peak
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pikes Peak home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,499, 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 Pikes Peak's effective rate of 0.41%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak 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 Pikes Peak.
Who works in Pikes Peak, and how
Work in Pikes Peak centers on construction and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Pikes Peak
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pikes Peak.
What the weather is like in Pikes Peak, month by month
Pikes Peak sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 64° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 84° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Pikes Peak
Indianapolis International sits about 41 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.2 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Pikes Peak
Schools across Pikes Peak average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Van Buren Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brown County Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Brown County High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pikes Peak school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pikes Peak 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 Pikes Peak against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pikes Peak
Is Pikes Peak a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pikes Peak ranks 14,744th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on taxes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pikes Peak expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,902. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $74,499 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is Pikes Peak safe?
Yes, Pikes Peak is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $170 per resident a year.
Compare Pikes Peak with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pikes Peak. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pikes Peak 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.
Pikes Peak detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pikes Peak: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pikes Peak: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pikes Peak: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pikes Peak: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pikes Peak 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.