Best Places80481, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 80481, 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.
80481 ranks 20,306th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 80481
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.
80481's strengths and weaknesses
Where 80481 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Household income$132,621 median, better than 93% of zip codes
Where 80481 ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,834 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Short commute39.5 minutes each way, better than only 4% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 80481
A household needs to earn about $164,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 80481 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $132,621, 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 80481's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 80481
80481 runs older 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 80481.
Who works in 80481, and how
Work in 80481 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 80481
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 80481.
What the weather is like in 80481, month by month
80481 sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 70 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs July.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 43° | 31° | 22° |
| July | 70° | 56° | 43° |
| October | 50° | 37° | 27° |
Flying in and out of 80481
Denver International sits about 45 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 80481
Schools across 80481 average a B−, better than 52% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lyons Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Pioneer Bilingual Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Centennial Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Casey Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Estes Park Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Estes Park High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- New Vista High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 80481 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
80481 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 80481 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 80481
Is 80481 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 80481 ranks 20,306th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, quiet, and population health, and lowest on cell coverage and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 80481 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $657,346. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $132,621 median income, cost of living beats 89% of zip codes.
Is 80481 safe?
80481 is safer than 6% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $996 per resident a year.
Compare 80481 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 80481. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 80481 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.
80481 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 80481: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 80481: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 80481: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 80481: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
80481 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.