Best PlacesWind River, WY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wind River, 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.
Wind River ranks 40,846th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wind River
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.
Wind River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wind River ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.0 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
Where Wind River ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wind River
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wind River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,174, 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 Wind River's effective rate of 0.21%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wind River
Wind River runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wind River.
Who works in Wind River, and how
Work in Wind River centers on education and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Wind River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wind River.
What the weather is like in Wind River, month by month
Wind River sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 19° | 7° |
| April | 59° | 43° | 29° |
| July | 91° | 73° | 55° |
| October | 63° | 46° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Wind River
The nearest airport, Central Wyoming Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 220 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wind River
Schools across Wind River average a D−, better than 2% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gannett Peak ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Baldwin Creek ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Ft. Washakie ElementaryF · 8% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ft. Washakie Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
- Wyoming Indian Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Lander Valley High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Ft. Washakie High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
- Wyoming Indian High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wind River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wind River 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 Wind River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wind River
Is Wind River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wind River ranks 40,846th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, short commutes, and low property taxes, and lowest on thin health care access and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wind River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $126,484. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $61,174 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Wind River safe?
Wind River is safer than 27% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $407 per resident a year.
Compare Wind River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wind River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wind River 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.
Wind River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wind River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wind River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wind River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wind River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wind River 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.