Best PlacesRoutt County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Routt County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Routt County ranks 464th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Routt 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.
Routt County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Routt County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of counties
Where Routt County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,607 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Routt County
A household needs to earn about $259,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Routt County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $117,044, 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 Routt County's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 Routt County
Routt 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 Routt County.
Who works in Routt County, and how
Work in Routt County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Routt County
Routt County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of counties and more parkland per resident than 81% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Routt County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Routt County growing, and who is moving in?
Routt County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Routt County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Routt County, month by month
Routt County sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 17° | 7° |
| April | 55° | 39° | 26° |
| July | 85° | 67° | 47° |
| October | 60° | 42° | 27° |
Flying in and out of Routt County
The nearest airport, Yampa Valley, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Routt County
Schools across Routt County average a B, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Soda Creek Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Strawberry Park Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Steamboat MontessoriB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Steamboat Springs Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Eagle Valley Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Soroco Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Saratoga Middle/high SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Steamboat Springs High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Soroco High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Routt County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Routt 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 Routt County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Routt County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Routt County
Is Routt County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Routt County ranks 464th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, population health, and civic engagement, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Routt County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,063,472. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $117,044 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Routt County safe?
Routt County is safer than 11% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $783 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Routt County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 7. That works out to about 150 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of counties.
Is Routt County good for families?
Schools beat 78% of counties, crime safety beats 11%, and childcare runs $1,607 a month.
Compare Routt County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Routt County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Routt 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.
Routt County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Routt County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Routt County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Routt County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Routt County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Routt 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.