Best Places80122, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 80122, 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.
80122 ranks 1,285th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 80122
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.
80122's strengths and weaknesses
Where 80122 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 80122 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,581 a month, better than only 4% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 80122
A household needs to earn about $162,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 80122 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $137,466, 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 80122'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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 80122
80122 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 80122.
Who works in 80122, and how
Work in 80122 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 80122
80122 has more parkland per resident than 79% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 80122 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 80122, month by month
80122 sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 31° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 48° | 32° |
| July | 90° | 74° | 59° |
| October | 69° | 52° | 36° |
Flying in and out of 80122
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 80122
Schools across 80122 average an A−, better than 82% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lois Lenski Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Homestead Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Runyon Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- John Wesley Powell Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Newton Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- West Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Arapahoe High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Heritage High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Endeavor AcademyD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 80122 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
80122 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 80122 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 80122 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 28% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 80122
Is 80122 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 80122 ranks 1,285th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, population health, and biking, 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 80122 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $637,131. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $137,466 median income, cost of living beats 96% of zip codes.
Is 80122 safe?
80122 is safer than 39% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $485 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 80122?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 18. That works out to about 149 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of zip codes.
Is 80122 good for families?
Schools beat 82% of zip codes, crime safety beats 39%, and childcare runs $1,581 a month.
Compare 80122 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 80122. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 80122 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.
80122 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 80122: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 80122: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 80122: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 80122: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
80122 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.