QoL Rank
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Colorado

Colorado has a quality of life score of 53/100 (C, average) and ranks #22 of 51 states. Its strongest category is quality of life (81) and its weakest is cost of living (27). Its top-rated larger counties are Broomfield County, Douglas County, Routt County.

  • Safety: 37
  • Cost of living: 27
  • Education: 66
  • Quality of life: 81

Key figures: violent crime 457.9 per 100,000 people a year (US 345.2); median rent $1,761 a month; median home value $539,400; median household income $92,790; life expectancy 78.5 years.

Counties in Colorado, best first

  1. Kiowa County 72
  2. Cheyenne County 71
  3. Dolores County 69
  4. Sedgwick County 68
  5. Broomfield County 66
  6. Douglas County 64
  7. San Miguel County 62
  8. Routt County 60
  9. Kit Carson County 60
  10. Elbert County 59
  11. Summit County 59
  12. Larimer County 58
  13. Boulder County 57
  14. Pitkin County 57
  15. Washington County 56
  16. Clear Creek County 56
  17. Grand County 55
  18. Park County 55
  19. Phillips County 55
  20. Lake County 54
  21. Chaffee County 54
  22. Eagle County 54
  23. Archuleta County 53
  24. Baca County 53
  25. Gunnison County 52
  26. Yuma County 52
  27. Ouray County 51
  28. Jefferson County 51
  29. Rio Blanco County 50
  30. Arapahoe County 49
  31. Gilpin County 49
  32. La Plata County 48
  33. Teller County 47
  34. El Paso County 47
  35. Mesa County 46
  36. Prowers County 46
  37. Garfield County 46
  38. Conejos County 46
  39. Custer County 46
  40. Saguache County 45
  41. Weld County 45
  42. Alamosa County 43
  43. Logan County 42
  44. Denver County 42
  45. Montrose County 42
  46. Rio Grande County 42
  47. Lincoln County 40
  48. Moffat County 40
  49. Otero County 38
  50. Morgan County 38
  51. Bent County 37
  52. Delta County 37
  53. Adams County 37
  54. Fremont County 35
  55. Montezuma County 35
  56. Pueblo County 34
  57. Las Animas County 34
  58. Crowley County 33
  59. Costilla County 32
  60. Huerfano County 26
  61. Hinsdale County –
  62. Jackson County –
  63. Mineral County –
  64. San Juan County –

Your priorities

Choose how much each category counts toward the overall score. The map, rankings and every place’s overall score update as you go.

About the data

Every county is compared with every other US county, and every state with the other states.

Each measure becomes a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 is always best. For crime, deaths, disaster risk, costs and commutes, the lowest value is best. A category score averages its measures’ percentiles and is then scaled so all four categories have the same spread around 50, so each counts equally. The overall score is the average of the four. 50 is a typical place, and most land between 35 and 65. Your priorities lets you weight the categories differently.

Grades: A 65 and up, B 55–64, C 45–54, D 35–44, F under 35.

Each category lists a county’s own figures next to its state’s and the US figures. Under the state and US columns, Difference shows whether the county is higher or lower, as a share of that figure (hover for the exact gap). Rank shows where it ranks instead: “ranked 75%” means it does better than 75% of the counties in its state, or in the US. A green arrow or dot means the county does better, red means worse.

Compare puts any two places side by side, counties or states, in any state. The better value in each row is highlighted.

A county gets an overall score only if all four categories have data and at least 60% of the measures are present. Small counties often have suppressed data, and without this rule they rank at the top on just a few numbers. Top 10 lists only include counties with at least 10,000 people.

What’s measured

Limitations

Sources