Best PlacesRawlins, WY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rawlins, 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.
Rawlins ranks 12,669th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rawlins
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.
Rawlins' strengths and weaknesses
Where Rawlins ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute13.9 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
Where Rawlins ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rawlins
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rawlins home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,382, 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 Rawlins' effective rate of 0.65%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rawlins
Rawlins'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 Rawlins.
Who works in Rawlins, and how
Work in Rawlins centers on public administration and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Rawlins
Rawlins has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rawlins and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rawlins, month by month
Rawlins sees roughly 154 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 41° | 26° |
| July | 89° | 71° | 50° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Rawlins
The nearest airport, Casper/Natrona County International, is about 86 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rawlins
Schools across Rawlins average a C, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Desert ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Rawlins ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Saratoga ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eastside ElementaryB · 43% proficient
- Rawlins Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Saratoga Middle/high SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Rawlins High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Black Butte High SchoolC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rawlins school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rawlins 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 Rawlins against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rawlins
Is Rawlins a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rawlins ranks 12,669th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, low taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on thin health care access and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rawlins expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,089. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $75,382 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Rawlins safe?
Yes, Rawlins is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $283 per resident a year.
Compare Rawlins with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rawlins. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rawlins 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.
Rawlins detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rawlins: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rawlins: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rawlins: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rawlins: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rawlins 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.