Best PlacesSimla, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Simla, 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.
Simla ranks 20,304th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Simla
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.
Simla's strengths and weaknesses
Where Simla ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- QuietBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 139 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of towns
Where Simla ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,286 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- Short commute35.4 minutes each way, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Simla
A household needs to earn about $101,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Simla home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,163, 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 Simla'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 Simla
Simla 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 Simla.
Who works in Simla, and how
Work in Simla centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Simla
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Simla.
What the weather is like in Simla, month by month
Simla sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 25° | 9° |
| April | 65° | 46° | 27° |
| July | 91° | 72° | 54° |
| October | 69° | 47° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Simla
The nearest airport, City of Colorado Springs Municipal, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Simla
Schools across Simla average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kiowa Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Agate Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Simla Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Simla Junior High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Kiowa Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Kiowa High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Simla High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Simla school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Simla 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 Simla against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Simla
Is Simla a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Simla ranks 20,304th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, walkability, and a strong job market, and lowest on tree cover and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Simla expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $415,334. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $72,163 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Simla safe?
Simla is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $524 per resident a year.
Compare Simla with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Simla. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Simla 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.
Simla detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Simla: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Simla: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Simla: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Simla: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Simla 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.