Best PlacesSummit County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Summit County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Summit County ranks 640th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Summit 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.
The best areas in Summit County
The parts of Summit County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Dillon
Crime runs lower, incomes run higher, and it is quieter.
Frisco
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Breckenridge
Commutes are shorter, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Silverthorne
Streets are more walkable, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Summit County run from about the 10th to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Summit County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Summit County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$124,341 median, better than 98% of counties
Where Summit County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,710 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Summit County
A household needs to earn about $247,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Summit County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $124,341, 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 Summit County's effective rate of 0.32%, 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 Summit County
Summit County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Summit County.
Who works in Summit County, and how
Work in Summit County centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Summit County
Summit County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 98% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Summit County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Summit County growing, and who is moving in?
Summit County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Grand Junction, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Summit County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Summit County, month by month
Summit County sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 67 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 18° | 13° |
| April | 38° | 30° | 25° |
| July | 67° | 57° | 50° |
| October | 46° | 37° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Summit County
The nearest airport, Eagle County Regional, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Summit County
Schools across Summit County average a C, better than 38% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Summit Cove Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Breckenridge Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Frisco Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Summit Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Summit High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Snowy Peaks Junior/senior High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- West Grand High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Summit County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Summit 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 Summit County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Summit County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties and 23% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Summit County
Is Summit County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Summit County ranks 640th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, population health, and civic engagement, and lowest on air quality and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Summit County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,012,393. The overall cost of living runs about 26% above the national average. Set against a $124,341 median income, cost of living beats 89% of counties.
Is Summit County safe?
Summit County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,126 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Summit County?
July highs average about 67 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 13. That works out to about 143 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Summit County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dillon, Frisco, and Breckenridge. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Summit County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Summit County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Summit 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.
Summit County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Summit County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Summit County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Summit County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Summit County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Summit 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.