Best Places80031, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 80031, 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.
80031 ranks 8,801st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 80031
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.
80031's strengths and weaknesses
Where 80031 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 95% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 80031 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,610 a month, better than only 4% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 80031
A household needs to earn about $139,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 80031 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $118,088, 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 80031's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 80031
80031's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 80031.
Who works in 80031, and how
Work in 80031 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 80031
80031 has more parkland per resident than 75% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 80031 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 80031, month by month
80031 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 80031
Denver International sits about 19 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 80031
Schools across 80031 average a D+, better than 12% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Cotton Creek Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Mountain View Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Jefferson County Open Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Manning Options SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Westlake Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Colorado Preparatory Academy Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Legacy High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Colorado Preparatory Academy High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Standley Lake High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 80031 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
80031 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 80031 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 80031 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 24% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 80031
Is 80031 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 80031 ranks 8,801st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, biking, and transit, and lowest on air quality and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 80031 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $547,468. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $118,088 median income, cost of living beats 91% of zip codes.
Is 80031 safe?
80031 is safer than 27% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $575 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 80031?
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 80031 good for families?
Schools beat 12% of zip codes, crime safety beats 27%, and childcare runs $1,610 a month.
Compare 80031 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 80031. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 80031 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.
80031 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 80031: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 80031: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 80031: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 80031: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
80031 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.