Best Places80301, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 80301, 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.
80301 ranks 6,967th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 80301
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.
80301's strengths and weaknesses
Where 80301 ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 80301 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,834 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 80301
A household needs to earn about $178,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 80301 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $107,349, 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 80301's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 80301
80301's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 80301.
Who works in 80301, and how
Work in 80301 centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 48%
- Work from home 38%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 80301
80301 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 93% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 80301 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 80301, month by month
80301 sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 64° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 90° | 75° | 61° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 80301
Denver International sits about 32 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 80301
Schools across 80301 average a B−, better than 54% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Blue Mountain ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Niwot Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Heatherwood Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Altona Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Nevin Platt Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Centennial Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Silver Creek High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Niwot High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- New Vista High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 80301 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
80301 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 80301 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 80301 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of zip codes and 38% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 80301
Is 80301 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 80301 ranks 6,967th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on population health, biking, and an educated workforce, 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 80301 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $709,781. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $107,349 median income, cost of living beats 77% of zip codes.
Is 80301 safe?
80301 is safer than 16% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $786 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 80301?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 23. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of zip codes.
Is 80301 good for families?
Schools beat 54% of zip codes, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,834 a month.
Compare 80301 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 80301. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 80301 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.
80301 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 80301: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 80301: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 80301: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 80301: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
80301 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.