Best Places80302, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 80302, 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.
80302 ranks 14,609th 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 80302
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.
80302's strengths and weaknesses
Where 80302 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of zip codes
Where 80302 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,834 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 80302
A household needs to earn about $333,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 80302 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,565, 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 80302's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 80302
80302 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 80302.
Who works in 80302, and how
Work in 80302 centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 42%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 27%
Life in 80302
80302 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 72% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 80302 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 80302, month by month
80302 sees roughly 80 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 80302
Denver International sits about 34 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 80302
Schools across 80302 average a B−, better than 52% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Gold Hill Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Blue Mountain ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Flatirons Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Altona Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Manhattan Middle School Of The Arts And AcademicsB− · 42% proficient
- Centennial Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Boulder High SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Silver Creek High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- New Vista High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 80302 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
80302 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 80302 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 80302 suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 80302
Is 80302 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 80302 ranks 14,609th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, an educated workforce, 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 80302 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,311,706. The overall cost of living runs about 37% above the national average. Set against a $78,565 median income, cost of living beats 15% of zip codes.
Is 80302 safe?
80302 is safer than 9% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $927 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 80302?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 23. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of zip codes.
Is 80302 good for families?
Schools beat 52% of zip codes, crime safety beats 9%, and childcare runs $1,834 a month.
Compare 80302 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 80302. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 80302 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.
80302 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 80302: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 80302: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 80302: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 80302: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
80302 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.