Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,250, settled in 1875. 30% more nonprofits per person than the typical Colorado town.
Hayden’s best subject grades are an A− for walkability and an A for civic life; its weakest is a C− for hazard risk. Among 94 Colorado towns, just 4 have a lower property crime rate than Hayden. Hayden has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Hayden Rooming House and Dawson-Carpenter Ranch. Hayden has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Hayden beats most towns.
Where Hayden’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Colorado), ordered by how far Hayden is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 314 in 1910, 1,941 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 2 maps from 1920 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hayden, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Hayden.
Most working residents leave Hayden for work: only 12% work in town. At 27 minutes, Hayden’s average trip to work is above both the Colorado town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). The top destinations are Steamboat Springs (38%), Denver (6%) and Craig (5%).
| Hayden | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 11% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 7.7% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.6% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Hayden School District No. Re 1. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayden Valley Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 232 | C− |
| Hayden High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 119 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CO on state tests and graduation
Hayden beats the Colorado average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 69% of Hayden adults had a checkup this year, against 71% in Colorado’s towns and 79% across U.S. towns. 20% of adults binge drink in Hayden.
| Hayden | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 71% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 35% |
| What stands out | Hayden | CO |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 14.5% | 10.9% |
| Fewer adults seeing a dentist | 60.6% | 64.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 75% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Hayden since 1984.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Hayden has cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. Hayden’s July high is 85°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Hayden home is worth about $526,000, up 4.2% in a year, close to the Colorado typical home. The median rent in Hayden is $1,784 a month.
| Hayden | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,784 a month | $1,808 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 71% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Hayden; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Hayden residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Colorado.
5 places in Hayden on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Colorado, United States
The Town of Hayden is a home rule municipality located in Routt County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,941 at the 2020 United States census. Hayden is a part of the Steamboat Springs, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The town sits along U.S. Highway 40 in the Yampa River Valley between Craig and Steamboat Springs. Hayden is located near the Yampa Valley Regional Airport.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
30% more nonprofits per person than the typical Colorado town.
That is 5.5 years of the area's median household income ($95,400 across the Steamboat Springs, CO area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
