Best Places80204, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 80204, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
80204 ranks 12,066th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 80204
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.
80204's strengths and weaknesses
Where 80204 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 80204 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,827 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 80204
A household needs to earn about $163,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 80204 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $96,711, 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 80204's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 80204
80204 runs younger 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 80204.
Who works in 80204, and how
Work in 80204 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 57%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in 80204
80204 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 95% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 80204 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 80204, month by month
80204 sees roughly 83 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 80204
Denver International sits about 21 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 80204
Schools across 80204 average a D+, better than 13% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Eagleton Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Joe Shoemaker SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Center For Talent Development At GreenleeD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Girls Athletic Leadership School Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Lake Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- West Middle SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- North High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Denver Center For International StudiesC · 32% proficient
- Compassion Road AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 80204 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
80204 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 80204 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 80204 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 28% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 80204
Is 80204 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 80204 ranks 12,066th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, biking, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 80204 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $654,162. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $96,711 median income, cost of living beats 63% of zip codes.
Is 80204 safe?
80204 is safer than 6% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,144 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 80204?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 25. That works out to about 83 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of zip codes.
Is 80204 good for families?
Schools beat 13% of zip codes, crime safety beats 6%, and childcare runs $1,827 a month.
Compare 80204 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 80204. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 80204 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.
80204 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 80204: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 80204: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 80204: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 80204: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
80204 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.