Best Places80236, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 80236, 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.
80236 ranks 13,383rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 80236
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.
80236's strengths and weaknesses
Where 80236 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 95% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 80236 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,801 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 80236
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 80236 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $96,614, 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 80236'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 80236
80236 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 80236.
Who works in 80236, and how
Work in 80236 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 80236
80236 has more parkland per resident than 96% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 80236 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 80236, month by month
80236 sees roughly 147 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 80236
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 80236
Schools across 80236 average a D, better than 5% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Sabin World SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Joe Shoemaker SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Gust Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dsst: College View Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Fort Logan NorthgateF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Dsst: College View High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Denver Montessori Junior/senior High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- John F Kennedy High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 80236 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
80236 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 80236 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 80236
Is 80236 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 80236 ranks 13,383rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, biking, and transit, 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 80236 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $521,907. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $96,614 median income, cost of living beats 71% of zip codes.
Is 80236 safe?
80236 is safer than 18% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $677 per resident a year.
Compare 80236 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 80236. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 80236 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.
80236 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 80236: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 80236: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 80236: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 80236: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
80236 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.