Best PlacesTropic, UT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tropic, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Tropic ranks 30,901st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Tropic
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.
Tropic's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tropic ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute18.7 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 92% of towns
Where Tropic ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Tropic
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tropic home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $53,125, 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 Tropic's effective rate of 0.33%, 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 Tropic
Tropic runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Tropic.
Who works in Tropic, and how
Work in Tropic centers on arts & entertainment and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in Tropic
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Tropic.
What the weather is like in Tropic, month by month
Tropic sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 21° | 5° |
| April | 59° | 41° | 23° |
| July | 84° | 66° | 45° |
| October | 63° | 43° | 25° |
Flying in and out of Tropic
The nearest airport, Cedar City Regional, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Harry Reid International, about 200 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tropic
Schools across Tropic average a C+, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Boulder SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Panguitch SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Bryce Valley SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Panguitch MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Panguitch HighC− · 27% proficient
- Bryce Valley HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tropic school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tropic 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 Tropic against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Tropic
Is Tropic a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tropic ranks 30,901st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, heat safety, and low property taxes, and lowest on civic engagement and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tropic expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $255,200. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $53,125 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Tropic safe?
Tropic is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $430 per resident a year.
Compare Tropic with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tropic. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tropic 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.
Tropic detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tropic: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tropic: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tropic: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tropic: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tropic 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.