Best PlacesWray, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wray, 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.
Wray ranks 19,684th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wray
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.
Wray's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wray ranks high
- Short commute13.5 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Wray ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wray
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wray home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,871, 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 Wray's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Wray
Wray's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Wray.
Who works in Wray, and how
Work in Wray centers on construction and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Wray
Wray has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Wray and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wray, month by month
Wray sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 28° | 17° |
| April | 68° | 49° | 34° |
| July | 93° | 76° | 62° |
| October | 70° | 51° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Wray
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 108 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wray
Schools across Wray average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wray Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Idalia Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Kenneth P Morris Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Yuma Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Lone Star Undivided High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Wray Junior Senior High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Yuma High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wray school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wray 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 Wray against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wray
Is Wray a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wray ranks 19,684th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and walkability, and lowest on state finances and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wray expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,329. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $66,871 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Wray safe?
Wray is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $612 per resident a year.
Compare Wray with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wray. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wray 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.
Wray detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wray: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wray: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wray: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wray: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wray 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.