Best PlacesPitkin County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pitkin 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.
Pitkin County ranks 1,204th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pitkin 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.
Pitkin County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pitkin County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
Where Pitkin County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,328 a month, better than only 5% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pitkin County
A household needs to earn about $285,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pitkin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $100,630, 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 Pitkin County's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 Pitkin County
Pitkin 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 Pitkin County.
Who works in Pitkin County, and how
Work in Pitkin County centers on professional & technical and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 48%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 36%
Life in Pitkin County
Pitkin County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Pitkin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pitkin County growing, and who is moving in?
Pitkin County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Garfield County, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pitkin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pitkin County, month by month
Pitkin County sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 21° | 7° |
| April | 57° | 41° | 26° |
| July | 84° | 66° | 47° |
| October | 62° | 43° | 28° |
Flying in and out of Pitkin County
The nearest airport, Aspen-Pitkin County/Sardy Field, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pitkin County
Schools across Pitkin County average a B−, better than 61% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Aspen Community Charter SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Aspen Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Basalt Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Aspen Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Carbondale Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Basalt Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Aspen High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Basalt High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Roaring Fork High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pitkin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pitkin 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 Pitkin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Pitkin County
Is Pitkin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pitkin County ranks 1,204th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and transit, and lowest on an overheated housing market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pitkin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,160,781. The overall cost of living runs about 75% above the national average. Set against a $100,630 median income, cost of living beats 19% of counties.
Is Pitkin County safe?
Pitkin County is safer than 2% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,189 per resident a year.
Compare Pitkin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pitkin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pitkin 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.
Pitkin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pitkin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pitkin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pitkin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pitkin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pitkin 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.