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Big city living isn't for everyone--but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.
There's the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There's traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing--pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you're looking at.
But that's where the suburbs come in--they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.
Of course, not all suburbs of Fort Collins are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado...
What's the best suburb of Fort Collins? Severance ranks as the best suburb of Fort Collins for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Severance, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 Fort Collins 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Colorado:
The 10 Best Fort Collins Suburbs To Live For 2022
Severance is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Fort Collins area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome Severance."
Everyone here is rich; families average $109,207 a year, which is the highest in the Fort Collins region. And only 1.93% are out of work. Homes average more than $378,000 each.
/10
Population: 5,611
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Median Income: $109,207
Unemployment Rate: 1.9%
Poverty Rate: 0.5%
More on Severance: Real Estate | Data
Lyons is the second best 'burb we looked at near Fort Collins for 2022.
It ranks 2nd for incomes in the area and only 1.43% of residents lack insurance, good for best.
/10
Population: 2,302
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Income: $106,743
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%
Poverty Rate: 4.3%
More on Lyons: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Here in Wellington, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Fort Collins metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Wellington.
/10
Population: 8,651
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $89,100
Unemployment Rate: 4.7%
Poverty Rate: 10.0%
More on Wellington: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Windsor ranks as the 4th best suburb of Fort Collins for 2022.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Windsor and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 23,679
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $103,933
Unemployment Rate: 5.3%
Poverty Rate: 3.9%
More on Windsor: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coming in as the fifth best is Firestone.
Firestone gets kudos for having the 7th most expensive homes in the Fort Collins area, where houses sell for an average of $371,500. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
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Population: 13,165
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Income: $97,862
Unemployment Rate: 2.1%
Poverty Rate: 3.4%
More on Firestone: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Longmont is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 4.29% which is 9th best in the area.
According to online reports, Longmont is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Fort Collins area, meaning you need to get in soon.
/10
Population: 95,864
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 2)
Median Income: $79,140
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 8.2%
More on Longmont: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to La Salle.
La Salle schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 23.4 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 3,377
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 4)
Median Income: $76,500
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%
Poverty Rate: 4.7%
More on La Salle: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Loveland is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 6.42% of people lack insurance, good for 8th in the area.
/10
Population: 81,774
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Median Income: $72,515
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 7.9%
More on Loveland: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Is 'Everything Better In Mead?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 4,978
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Median Income: $94,947
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 2.7%
More on Mead: Real Estate | Data | Photos
And rounding out the top ten for 2022 is Eaton.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
/10
Population: 5,646
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 4)
Median Income: $86,620
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%
Poverty Rate: 6.7%
More on Eaton: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Fort Collins for 2022
Figuring out the best suburbs around Fort Collins was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Low unemployment rate
- High Median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2016-2020 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Fort Collins.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 18 suburbs to evaluate around Fort Collins.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 18 in each category, where 1 was the "best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the "Best Suburb near Fort Collins." We're lookin' at you, Severance. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Summary: Welcome to the Best Fort Collins 'Burbs of 2022
We said it once and we'll say it again--life in the big city isn't for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you're hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Fort Collins, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more Colorado reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Best Fort Collins Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Severance, CO | 5,611 |
| 2 | Lyons, CO | 2,302 |
| 3 | Wellington, CO | 8,651 |
| 4 | Windsor, CO | 23,679 |
| 5 | Firestone, CO | 13,165 |
| 6 | Longmont, CO | 95,864 |
| 7 | La Salle, CO | 3,377 |
| 8 | Loveland, CO | 81,774 |
| 9 | Mead, CO | 4,978 |
| 10 | Eaton, CO | 5,646 |
| 11 | Estes Park, CO | 6,504 |
| 12 | Berthoud, CO | 8,574 |
| 13 | Milliken, CO | 7,862 |
| 14 | Johnstown, CO | 8,236 |
| 15 | Ault, CO | 2,153 |
| 16 | Platteville, CO | 3,017 |
| 17 | Greeley, CO | 107,445 |
| 18 | Evans, CO | 22,128 |
