Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,896, settled in 1888. More miles of trail than almost any town in Colorado.
New Castle's standout: it has 19 miles of trail. Overall it grades B, ranked 87th of 158 in Colorado. Residents are healthier than 89% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 69% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. New Castle’s trail density is 7.2 miles per square mile, above both the Colorado town median (1.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Among 159 Colorado towns, just 9 have a higher average trip to work than New Castle.
Where New Castle beats most towns.
14% of the town is conserved land, across 8 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Colorado), ordered by how far New Castle is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
![Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/1846/f16fed825b36a18d705b-l.jpg)
Census counts: 311 in 1890, 4,923 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1940 and 2 maps from 1962 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Castle, 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 New Castle.
New Castle has home values rising while Colorado’s fall and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Colorado; it also has seen reported crime rise by about half.
In the comparison, New Castle comes above both Colorado’s towns (6.8%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). More trails than any other town in Colorado.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Alder Park | 0.6 mi | 12 |
| 2. Grand River Park | 0.6 mi | 10 |
| 3. Coal Ridge Park | — | 16 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Garfield School District No. Re-2. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 483 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CO on state tests and graduation
Within Colorado it is healthier than 50% of the 159 graded towns: Colorado sets a high bar.
27% of New Castle adults sleep under 7 hours. New Castle tracks Colorado closely on all 26 CDC measures. 24% of New Castle adults have obesity.
| New Castle | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 26% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 71% | 79% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 27% | 35% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
New Castle has 605 jobs for its 2,203 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 33.7 minutes, against 25.2 across Colorado.
Most working residents leave New Castle for work: only 5% work in town. Jobs based in New Castle grew to 605 in 2023, 71 more than in 2013. 6.2% of residents live below the poverty line in New Castle.
| New Castle | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 6.2% | 8.5% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.7% | 7.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $80,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes rose from 27 to 44 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. At 11.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 80% of Colorado’s graded towns.
New Castle’s property crime rate is 6.5 per 1,000 residents.
| New Castle | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.5 per 1,000 residents | 15.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.5 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Values rose 3.3% in the past year while the Colorado typical home fell 1.3%. Home values rose 38% in five years, to about $646K, against 6% across Colorado.
The typical New Castle home is worth about $646,000, 22% above the Colorado typical home. The median rent in New Castle is $1,393 a month.
| New Castle | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,393 a month | $1,812 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 71% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
New Castle has cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 14° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around New Castle. Close and well known come first.
16 mi Canyon & gorgeGlenwood Canyon
38 mi MountainGrand Mesa
34 mi National forestWhite River National Forest17 mi Ski areaSunlight Mountain Resort67 runs · 1,924 ft verticalGlenwood Canyon: White River National Forest U.S. Forest Service, Public domain · Grand Mesa: DrunkDriver, CC BY-SA 3.0 · White River National Forest: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of New Castle
About 8 of every 100 New Castle residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Colorado.
Where New Castle’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in Garfield County, Colorado, United States
The Town of New Castle is a home rule municipality in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 4,923 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. New Castle grades B overall, better than 55% of U.S. towns and #87 of 158 in Colorado. It grades A for health, B+ for safety and C+ for schools, and has the most trail per square mile in the state. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 6.8 years of the area's median household income ($95,635 across the Rifle, 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.
