Best Places80004, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 80004, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
80004 ranks 5,138th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 80004
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
80004's strengths and weaknesses
Where 80004 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 80004 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,769 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 25% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 80004
A household needs to earn about $153,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 80004 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $114,806, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 80004's effective rate of 0.51%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 80004
80004 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 80004.
Who works in 80004, and how
Work in 80004 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 80004
80004 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes and more parkland per resident than 89% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 80004 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 80004, month by month
80004 sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 80004
Denver International sits about 24 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.1 million passengers in 2025, with 250 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 80004
Schools across 80004 average a B+, better than 80% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Vanderhoof Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Jefferson County Open Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Campbell Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Manning Options SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- D'evelyn Junior/senior High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Ralston Valley Senior High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Arvada West High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 80004 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
80004 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 80004 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 80004 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 80004
Is 80004 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 80004 ranks 5,138th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, civic engagement, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 80004 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $608,059. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $114,806 median income, cost of living beats 88% of zip codes.
Is 80004 safe?
80004 is safer than 36% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $511 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 80004?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 25. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of zip codes.
Is 80004 good for families?
Schools beat 80% of zip codes, crime safety beats 36%, and childcare runs $1,769 a month.
Compare 80004 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 80004. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 80004 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
80004 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 80004: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 80004: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 80004: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 80004: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
80004 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.