Mountain Town Rankings: What Changed for Winter 2026

Every fall, we refresh our mountain town rankings with the latest data. This winter's update brought a few notable shifts.

Steamboat Springs, Colorado moved up two spots, driven by improvements in its walkability score and a new downtown development that boosted its dining metric. The town has been investing heavily in year-round infrastructure, and the data reflects it.

Bend, Oregon remains a perennial favorite but saw a slight dip due to rising housing costs. The median home value in Bend now exceeds $600,000, which hurts its affordability score even as its other metrics stay strong.

New to the top 10 this year: Sandpoint, Idaho. This small lakeside-meets-mountain town near Schweitzer Mountain Resort has been quietly building a reputation for outdoor access, affordability, and community character.

As always, you can see the full methodology and score breakdowns on each list page. These rankings are living documents — they update as the data does.