Best PlacesSweetwater County, WY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sweetwater 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.
Sweetwater County ranks 329th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sweetwater 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.
Sweetwater County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sweetwater County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 172 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of counties
Where Sweetwater County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sweetwater County
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sweetwater County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,332, 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 Sweetwater County's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sweetwater County
Sweetwater County runs younger 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 Sweetwater County.
Who works in Sweetwater County, and how
Work in Sweetwater County centers on mining & oil & gas and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Sweetwater County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sweetwater County.
Is Sweetwater County growing, and who is moving in?
Sweetwater County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Albany County, WY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sweetwater County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sweetwater County, month by month
Sweetwater County sees roughly 172 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 21° | 11° |
| April | 56° | 41° | 27° |
| July | 88° | 71° | 54° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Sweetwater County
The nearest airport, Southwest Wyoming Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sweetwater County
Schools across Sweetwater County average a B, better than 72% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mckinnon ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Washington ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Harrison ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pilot Butte ElementaryA− · 54% proficient
- Lyman Intermediate SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Lincoln Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Green River High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Kemmerer Junior Senior High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Farson-eden High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sweetwater County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sweetwater 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 Sweetwater County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sweetwater County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties and 5% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Sweetwater County
Is Sweetwater County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sweetwater County ranks 329th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low taxes, and heat safety, 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 Sweetwater County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $255,651. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $83,332 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Sweetwater County safe?
Yes, Sweetwater County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sweetwater County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 31 with lows near 11. That works out to about 172 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of counties.
Is Sweetwater County good for families?
Schools beat 72% of counties, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $812 a month.
Compare Sweetwater County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sweetwater County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sweetwater 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.
Sweetwater County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sweetwater County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sweetwater County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sweetwater County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sweetwater County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sweetwater 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.